XML News: RosettaNet's Partner Interface Process; Sqribe

Computergram International, April 13, 1999

A global e-commerce framework, RosettaNet, passed a significant milestone on Monday April 12 when it completed its first Partner Interface Process (PIP). A RosettaNet PIP is an XML specification designed to align a particular business process between two or more partners in a supply chain. This first PIP, completed by IBM and Microsoft, lets manufacturers add new products into their partners' catalogs.

"This first PIP alone translates into an average of $1m in cost savings per year for each implementer," claims RosettaNet CEO Fade Chehade. The PIP was built in a couple of weeks and is based mostly on off-the-shelf products. The partners say it demonstrates the viability of RosettaNet. Now two other members of the consortium, Tech Data and Ingram Micro, are getting ready to implement their own RosettaNet PIPs. Meanwhile the enterprise information portal (EIP) market has developed an XML angle of its own. Sqribe Technologies Corp's ReportMark Enterprise Information Portal will use XML as the open standard for implementing enterprise portals with third-party applications and data sources. Sqribe customers should be able to import large quantities of reporting information from their ERP systems to custom portals. The first Sqribe product to take advantage of this capability is RM/QuickConnect for PeopleSoft.