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Technology Stocks : OBJECT DESIGN Inc.: Bargain of the year!! -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: hasbeen101 who wrote (2765)	3/6/1999 4:56:00 AM
From: GUSTAVE JAEGER	Respond to of 3194

March 08, 1999, Issue: 832 Section: News XML Tagging Technology On A Roll Tim Scannell Boston-The Extensible Markup Language (XML) has quickly become one of the hottest technologies in Web-based content and document-sharing over the Internet, barely a year after it became a standard. XML also is shaping up to be a critical ace-in-the-hole for integrators and developers looking to tap into the lucrative business of upgrading older legacy enterprise systems to allow access to information without concern for bumping into technical boundaries. The technology accomplishes this by stripping the formatting information from documents and converting it into an XML browser-compatible format. "The analogy is that XML is the next generation of standards for exchanging data," said David Pool, founder and chief executive of XML tool developer and integrator DataChannel Inc., Bellevue, Wash. It is the "next phase of networked computing" since it defeats any formatting barriers, he said. Other developers point out that XML eventually should supersede HTML as the preferred Web language standard. Major players such as Microsoft Corp., Sun Microsystems Inc., Oracle Corp. and IBM Corp. have rallied behind XML as a core standard. In fact, Microsoft has positioned XML and technology developed by DataChannel as key elements in its enterprise computing strategy. In February 1998, the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) labeled XML a standard. Microsoft is believed to be the first major vendor to add XML support to its Internet browser software. The company announced support for the technology last October at its Professional Developers Conference, where it demonstrated XML's capabilities with Internet Explorer Version 5 (IE 5) and the Windows operating system. The switch from HTML to XML may not happen overnight despite the frenzy building around XML. Garry Hipsher, president of Web systems developer and integrator Pacific Internet, called XML "breakthrough technology" that will supersede the use of HTML in 12 to 24 months. XML tools are not yet readily available but they are becoming a reality. DataChannel last week released a cross-platform technology and collection of services that can be used to link disparate systems across an enterprise. At the core of this is a technology based on XML called the XML Framework, which allows developers to write applications that extend the reach of legacy systems over the Internet and corporate intranets. As part of its XML push, the company plans within the next few weeks to beef up the services part of its business, said Lucie Fjeldstad, president of DataChannel. DataChannel wants to foster partnerships with other XML proponents in the industry and strike partnerships with VARs, systems integrators and others that have adopted the XML standard. "We have the beginning of a very good professional services group that has XML as a background," Fjeldstad said. In June, for example, the company partnered with Andersen Consulting to lend its XML expertise to projects in Europe. DataChannel developed the under-lying technology in a project to convert legacy systems at General Motors Corp. GM earlier signed a multimillion-dollar contract with DataChannel to convert its disparate systems into an XML-based information network. Before DataChannel stepped in, 70 percent of GM's enterprise systems were based on mainframe computers and 90 percent of the data essentially was not usable since it was unconnected, Fjeldstad said. Copyright ® 1999 CMP Media Inc.

To: hasbeen101 who wrote (2765)	3/6/1999 5:59:00 AM
From: GUSTAVE JAEGER	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 3194

Oh, btw, did I tell you that Microsoft signed on for ODIS' eXtreme Advantage Partner Programme? Well... even if it wasn't put that way in the following article, it looks like MSFT is sort of an ODIS crypto-VAR: The race to create XML for e-commerce By Wylie Wong Staff Writer, CNET News.com March 5, 1999, 4:00 p.m. PT Excerpt: ...Analysts say the [Microsoft] product is similar in scope to Bluestone's XML Server or webMethods B2B server technology, which automatically generates and distributes XML documents from information in databases. In fact, Microsoft will use webMethods' software for BizTalk. Satya Nadella, Microsoft's general manager for commerce platforms, said BizTalk is a framework that will help businesses perform the nitty-gritty details of setting up the connections to each other and includes tracking and analysis tools that help companies monitor transactions. To facilitate transactions, the framework will include XML "schemas," or descriptions of businesses documents, such as name and order number, Nadella said. But while Microsoft and Bluestone's XML servers allows XML documents and applications to communicate across the Web, Software AG's server focuses on storing XML data. Software AG's Tamino will serve as a database for storing and caching XML documents and compete with Object Design's Excelon XML data server. Tamino can process information from existing databases and applications and convert it to XML, Software AG executives said. Rappaport said the smaller companies, such as Object Design and Bluestone, are first to market and have a good head start against Microsoft, Software AG, and other future XML vendors. Software AG's Tamino won't ship until the fourth quarter. Microsoft plans to release a beta version of BizTalk Server this summer, but has not announced a final ship date. Now's the time for the smaller companies to get their names out to the early adopters of XML, analysts said. Direct link: news.com The above news dropped on the wires at 4:00 PM Pacific Time, so... let's see how the market'll digest it on Monday! After all, one does not need to hold a PhD in Advanced Math to see that if MSFT's BizTalk server incorporates WebMethods' B2B and if B2B incorporates eXcelon then BizTalk is powered by eXcelon! Did I miss something?