Led by Oracle, members of the RosettaNet consortium announced the successful completion of software interoperability tests.
RosettaNet is a non-profit organization whose goal is to implement standards for supply-chain transactions on the Internet. Supported along with Oracle by such members as Microsoft, IBM and Intel, it hashes out business-to-business (B2B) compatibility standards that many high technology outfits are keen on adopting.
Oracle’s involvement with the consortium runs deep, as it spearheads the RosettaNet Interoperability Program to ease online collaborations with business partners using the RosettaNet protocol. webMethods, Sterling Commerce, Tibco Software, and Vitria all announced the completion of interoperability trials that prove they are ready to implement the RosettaNet gateway for their business integration customers.
Creating interoperability among RosettaNet members helps connect RosettaNet trading partners to reduce costs and deployment time. The news is indicative of the importance software infrastructure concerns are placing on established and emerging standards, which many in the industry believe will help companies get on the same page in terms of interoperability.
Oracle scored an industry first Wednesday when its flagship Oracle9i Application Server was certified for implementations.
The technology, dubbed Oracle9iAS Integration, will help eliminate the need for more costly proprietary programming skills by providing one tool to define, create, and connect business processes, monitor the integration process, and enable online analysis and reporting for integration activities.
Redwood Shores, Calif.-based Oracle said the standard integration addresses RosettaNet’s compatibility needs for trading partner management, document transformation, secure communication and process interaction requirements, while providing a Web-based tool for managing enterprise application integration, B2B, Web services, business process management and business activity monitoring.
The development means manufacturing and other supply chain-based companies will be able to trim the costs and resources that accompany online collaboration. It will also make working with business partners less time consuming.
Oracle9iAS Integration is RosettaNet certified and will ship with Oracle’s next release of its application server (Release 2 Version 9.0.4) sometime in the first half of this year.
In the meantime, Oracle applications customers can choose a pre-built, RosettaNet-compliant solution, which includes Oracle9iAS Integration and the Supply Chain Trading Connector for RosettaNet. Designed for users of Oracle E-Business Suite, the connector helps ensure that complete business documents are delivered or used at the correct time and that the exchange is tracked.
webMethods said it is among the first RosettaNet solution providers and partners to successfully complete the RosettaNet Interoperability and RosettaNet Compliance Badge Programs, the latter of which gives customers an additional layer of confidence that the solution providers are fully compliant according to published RosettaNet Implementation Framework (RNIF) 2.0 and or specific Partner Interface Processes.
Sterling Commerce has proven its ability to transmit business data and communicate with other companies using the RosettaNet Implementation Framework (RNIF) version 2.0. Tibco completed the RosettaNet Software Interoperability Trials and Vitria’s Vitria’s BusinessWare for RosettaNet 3.2 was found to support interoperability requirements as identified in the test plan.