Sterling Commerce Software Architect Appointed To Committee Overseeing ebXML Advancement and Development

Business Wire, July 29, 2002

Business Editors/Technology Writers

COLUMBUS, Ohio-(BUSINESS WIRE)--July 29, 2002--

Committee to Guide ebXML in Combining Strengths of EDI With B2B Web

Applications

Bill Burcham, senior software architect in Sterling Commerce's Standards and Applied Technology group, has been appointed to the Joint Coordination Committee for ebXML (JCC), the management body responsible for overall supervision of ebXML development, adoption and implementation. The appointment, made by UN/CEFACT and OASIS, the two standards organizations sponsoring ebXML, recognizes Sterling Commerce's continued leadership in B2B integration.

"Sterling Commerce brings significant expertise to the JCC based on our 25-years of EDI experience combined with our long-standing contribution to the development of ebXML," said Burcham. "From our unique perspective, we'll be working with the JCC to show users how they can apply the ebXML framework to solve pressing problems while continuing to leverage their EDI infrastructure. We look forward to contributing to the momentum behind ebXML."

The specifications comprising the groundbreaking ebXML framework were adopted in 2001. Sterling Commerce is a pacesetter in supporting the open ebXML standards framework. Its Sterling Integrator solution was one of the first four solutions successfully tested for ebXML Messaging interoperability in March 2002. Sterling Integrator is an advanced integration platform that seamlessly combines the power of XML and EDI for internal application integration as well as real-time and file-based B2B interactions.

The JCC is responsible for coordinating and managing the work of five established UN/CEFACT and OASIS groups developing the related pieces of the standards framework. These include Messaging, Collaboration Protocol and Registry/Repository Technical Committees at OASIS, and Business Process, and Core Components Project Teams at UN/CEFACT.

Burcham was nominated by leadership within OASIS. Arijit Sengupta, senior project manager with Oracle, also was named as a technical representative from OASIS. Additional JCC members include management executives from other companies, and UN/CEFACT and OASIS representatives.

ebXML is unique in achieving widespread vertical industry endorsement including in the retail/consumer packaged goods (EAN International, UCCNet and GCI), automotive (Automotive Industry Action Group and STAR), healthcare (HL7) and travel (Open Travel Alliance) industries. ebXML's promise as an architecture is founded in its ability to coordinate several lower-level XML and Internet standards easily and cost effectively. Because of ebXML's open nature, business partners will be able to communicate using ebXML-compliant vendor products.

Sterling Commerce and Sterling Integrator are either service marks, trademarks or registered trademarks of Sterling Commerce Inc. or its affiliated companies. All other company, product and brand names referenced are service marks, trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners.

About Sterling Commerce and SBC

Sterling Commerce, a wholly owned subsidiary of SBC Communications Inc. (NYSE:SBC) is one of the world's largest providers of business-to-business commerce solutions. For Global 5000 companies and their customers, suppliers and partners, Sterling Commerce software and services help maximize business performance and improve business metrics through integration of applications, external partner systems and people. With more than 25 years of experience serving tens of thousands of customers in a vast range of industries, Sterling Commerce is a recognized pioneer in business-to-business commerce through its longstanding expertise in EDI. Today, as customers explore new ways to improve business performance via the Internet, Sterling Commerce continues to innovate its software and services to further the global adoption of e-commerce while offering its customers strategic solutions that leverage existing technology. For more information, visit www.sterlingcommerce.com.

SBC Communications Inc. (www.sbc.com) is one of the world's leading data, voice and Internet services providers. Through its world-class network and its subsidiaries' trusted brands - SBC Southwestern Bell, SBC Ameritech, SBC Pacific Bell, SBC Nevada Bell, SBC SNET and Sterling Commerce - SBC companies provide a full range of voice, data, networking and e-business services, as well as directory advertising and publishing. A Fortune 27 company, America's leading provider of high-speed DSL Internet Access services, and one of the nation's leading Internet Service Providers, SBC companies currently serve nearly 60 million access lines nationwide. In addition, SBC owns 60 percent of America's second largest wireless company -- Cingular Wireless -- which serves more than 21 million wireless customers. Internationally, SBC has telecommunications investments in 28 countries.

About ebXML

ebXML (www.ebXML.org), enables mission-critical Web services and transactional electronic commerce, allowing enterprises of any size and in any geographical location to conduct business over the Internet. Using ebXML, companies now have a set of standard methods to exchange business messages, conduct trading relationships, communicate data in common terms and define and register business processes. ebXML is sponsored by UN/CEFACT (www.uncefact.org), the United Nations body whose mandate covers worldwide policy and technical development in the area of trade facilitation and electronic business, and OASIS (http://www.oasis-open.org), a not-for-profit, global consortium that drives the development, convergence and adoption of e-business standards.