Sun Microsystems, Other Tech Pioneers Advance DSML In Directory-Enabled e-Business Products.

Business/Technology Editors

PORTSMOUTH, N.H.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--July 18, 2000

Bowstreet, Critical Path, iPlanet, IBM, Microsoft, Novell, Oracle, and

others embark on XML-based Directory Services Markup Language 2.0

Bowstreet (www.bowstreet.com), a leading provider of XML infrastructure for business-to-business (B2B) web marketplaces, today announced that eight new technology companies, including technology giant Sun Microsystems (Nasdaq:SUNW), have implemented Directory Services Markup Language (DSML) in their solutions. This vendor commitment to DSML, the Bowstreet-initiated XML standard that bridges the gap between directories and XML-based e-business applications, highlights the power of directory information in connecting multiple companies' business webs.

Sun has introduced a technology preview of a DSML module for the Java Naming and Directory Interface(TM)(JNDI). JNDI is part of the Java(TM) 2 platform, providing Java applications with seamless connectivity to heterogeneous enterprise naming and directory services. Using JNDI, developers can access data - including information about people and computing resources - from any vendor's directory. The DSML module fits beneath the JNDI API, allowing developers to manipulate and update directory contents and export them in DSML format, making it easier to customize and deploy B2B applications on a massive scale using a standard API. With the addition of the DSML module, JNDI will power highly customized B2B applications that employ rich data about people, machines, web services and other resources.

"To fully enable e-business applications, directory services must support XML-based access to the identity, policy and other information that they contain," said Jamie Lewis, CEO and research chair of The Burton Group. "Implementation of the DSML specification on the part of vendors such as Sun shows that we're making progress toward that goal. And with the additional functionality that will be in version 2.0, DSML will help companies build e-business applications that allow them to create, manage and maintain business webs."

Seven additional technology companies are also implementing DSML support. Novell (Nasdaq:NOVL) has added DSML functionality in its DirXML, a product that allows organizations to distribute data ownership while centralizing information availability. IBM's (NYSE:IBM) Business Transformation and CIO organization is leveraging and exploiting DSML as part of its strategic initiative with XML; SLAPHAPI allows quick, easy access to LDAP directories from web applications written in any language. Critical Path (Nasdaq:CPTH) places DSML in leading LDAP directory and meta-directory products. iPlanet (Nasdaq:SUNW/NYSE:AOL) recently released a DSML-enabled version of its LDAP software developer's kit, a tool that allows programmers to easily use the iPlanet Directory Server. Radiant Logic recently introduced DSML into its Virtual Directory Server software, a technology that enables directories to become central aggregation points for all key enterprise data. In addition to the directory, application and server vendors, DSML is also gaining strong momentum with XML companies like infoShark, which integrates DSML into its XML-based data interchange technology. Another XML company, Intalio, is planning to use DSML to enable process repositories that allow business partners to collaborate on the definition of Partner Interface Processes and manage their entire lifecycle.

Industry builds solutions around DSML

Last year, Bowstreet, IBM, Microsoft (Nasdaq:MFST), Novell, Oracle (Nasdaq:ORCL) and the Sun-Netscape Alliance proposed to create DSML, an industry standard schema for describing directory contents and structure in XML. In late fall, the DSML 1.0 specification was completed and turned over to the Organization for the Advancement of Structured Information Standards (OASIS) and Microsoft's BizTalk. Bowstreet was the first company to deliver a product supporting DSML, the Bowstreet(TM) Business Web Factory. The Business Web Factory platform enables non-technical business people to create, customize and manage multicompany business webs.

"From the start, we thought DSML would be a linchpin for the next generation of e-business," said Bob Crowley, president and CEO of Bowstreet. "It's rewarding to see leading technology vendors using it to fully activate directories for industrial strength e-business and business webs."

"DSML, as an extension of XML, enables easy sharing of valuable business data and business processes within and across company boundaries," said Paul Smart, vice president and general manager, Net Directory Business Unit, Novell. "This initiative helps to establish directory technology, such as Novell's eDirectory and DirXML, as the infrastructure for e-commerce and e-business applications."

"We are currently leveraging DSML with our RadiantOne Virtual Directory Server product," said Michel Prompt, CEO of Radiant Logic, Inc. "DSML is a very useful standard and we look forward to the added functionality, such as the ability to support LDAP queries in DSML 2.0."

"Critical Path is committed to providing businesses with the leading directory solutions available and we believe that DSML will be one of the formative components for directory interoperability over the next few years," said Archie Reed, senior director of product architecture. "By supporting DSML, we add another flexible component to our directory solutions enabling our customers to easily share mission critical information across disparate business processes, applications, databases and directories."

OASIS committee bears down on DSML 2.0

This first wave of DSML-powered products comes as technology experts, led by James Tauber, Bowstreet's director of XML technology, start work on DSML 2.0, the second generation of the specification. The DSML 2.0 Technical Committee is being established by OASIS, and the committee is an open forum that includes technology experts from some of computing's biggest companies, including Bowstreet, IBM, Microsoft, Novell, Oracle and iPlanet. Additional technology companies taking a leadership role in DSML 2.0 include Critical Path, infoShark, Netegrity (Nasdaq:NETE), Oblix and Radiant Logic.

DSML 1.0 describes directory contents in XML. DSML 2.0 will give companies standardized XML format to access directory information wherever it exists on the Internet and provide a common XML description for manipulation of directory information such as queries, comparisons, updates, additions and deletions. XML-based applications will consume the DSML information in business webs.

The committee will also consider DSML 2.0 provisions for:

-- identifying the source of directory entries;

-- organizing directory entries hierarchically;

-- normalizing distinguished names from different vendors'

directories; and

-- describing or standardizing access control information.

For more information on DSML, please visit www.dsml.org.

About Bowstreet

Bowstreet provides next generation Internet infrastructure designed to transform the World Wide Web from a collection of static web sites into a fluid web of interconnected businesses called "business webs." These dynamic and highly customized B2B marketplaces enable companies to sell new products and services, create new channels of distribution and develop new business models at a fraction of the time and cost of today's approaches. Bowstreet's patent-pending product, the Bowstreet Business Web Factory, is designed to enable companies to form instant B2B connections, create richer offerings for existing customers and enable line-of-business managers to take complete control of e-business without technical help. For more information, visit www.bowstreet.com or call 603-559-1900.

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