OASIS Member News: Infoteria Corporation Announces the World's FirstXML-based B2B Appliance

[DSenay@infoteria.com]

Infoteria Corporation Announces the World's First
                          XML-based B2B Appliance
  Solution to Provide Small- and Mid-sized Companies Fast, Easy Access to
Electronic Trading Communities; A CD Player for B2B Electronic Marketplace
                               Connectivity


BOSTON, Mass. and TOKYO, Japan  ? (October 30, 2000) ? Infoteria

Corporation, the XML software company, today announced it has partnered

with Digital Design Inc., a custom hardware manufacturer, to deliver the

first appliance available for accessing business-to-business (B2B)

electronic marketplaces/exchanges.  The compact disc-based B2B Appliance

(superscript: TM), built with Infoteria's software, will include all the

hardware and software necessary to enable small-and mid-sized companies to

access e-marketplaces without the large IT investment typically required to

trade on these electronic marketplaces.  The first version will allow any

user to connect to any electronic marketplace built on RosettaNet's

framework.



The benefit of the B2B Appliance is that smaller companies who use it to

access e-marketplaces can be more competitive with large companies as

suppliers, partners and customers.  By using the B2B Appliance(superscript:

 )as a quick and easy on-ramp to trading communities, smaller companies

will now be able to compete with larger suppliers for partners and

customers on a level playing field.  With the B2B Appliance gaining access

to an electronic marketplace is as easy as inserting that marketplace's

framework CD, such as Ariba's CBL or Microsoft's BizTalk.



"By forming an alliance with Digital Design to produce the B2B Appliance,

we have validated the notion of a plug and play B2B device.  Appliances

like ours will level the playing field for all parties," said Tim Browne,

co-CEO of Infoteria.  "Any company ? no matter the size ? can now benefit

from participation in a B2B exchange, without having to expend costly IT

resources."

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Infoteria Announces B2B Appliance                             2?2?2?2



Business-to-business exchanges are becoming increasingly popular as

companies work to increase the efficiency of their supply chains.  By

creating an infrastructure based on shared business rules, trading partners

can conduct business electronically in an easy, automated fashion.  This is

the same principle that led to the development of electronic data exchange

(EDI) systems, a costly approach that requires soup-to-nuts customization.

Today's electronic exchange technology is increasingly based on open

standards, with XML playing a key role in alleviating the differences in

data coding between companies and to facilitate exchanges.



"Digital Design is a leader in Linux-based hardware development," said

Kazuhiko Terai, President of Digital Design Co., Ltd.  "Our extensive

experience with open source software has enabled us to build a B2B

Appliance that is not only easy to use, but secure."



Based on Linux, the new B2B Player is designed for ease of use and very low

maintenance.  Software updates will be performed via CD reboot, making the

upgrade as simple as putting in a new CD.  In this way, compatibility is

ensured as different frameworks and vocabularies gain acceptance in the

marketplace and as current frameworks evolve to include more and more

business document types and rules. Infoteria plans to work with other

hardware vendors to develop future players based on new partners' hardware

and on other frameworks, such as ebXML championed by OASIS.  As XML

framework definitions evolve, Infoteria customers will be able to easily

keep up with these advances.



About Digital Design Inc.
Digital Design Inc. provides hardware design and installation; networking;

web hosting; and computer consulting services.  For more information, visit

them on the web

at http://www.d-d.co/jp/




About Infoteria Corporation

Infoteria Corporation is a leading software design and development company

focused on building and selling XML-based B2B eCommerce solutions that

intelligently and profitably connect buyers and sellers.  The corporation

offers a wide range of XML software tools, components and products, as well

as the services and training necessary to implement end-to-end XML-based

customer solutions.

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Infoteria Announces  B2B Appliance

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Infoteria partners include IBM, Microsoft, Toshiba, Oracle, Sun, Softbank,

Toshiba, Hitachi and others.  Infoteria Corporation is a member of W3C and

OASIS, with development centers in Tokyo and Boston. Additional information

can be found on the web at http://www.infoteria.com and http://www.xml.com.






                                   # # #

Infoteria, iCONNECTOR, iMAKER, iMESSENGER, iPEX, and iXLST are trademarks
of Infoteria Corporation.  W3C and XML are the registered trademarks of
World Wide Web Consortium. Other brand product names are registered
trademarks or trademarks of their respective holders. All rights reserved.