ebXML Messaging Service Specification Approved As OASIS Standard.

Business Editors, High Tech Writers

BOSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 5, 2002

ebXML Messaging Service Specification version 2.0 has become the newest OASIS Standard, successfully completing a recent election by the consortium's membership at-large. The ebXML Messaging Service standard, which provides a secure method for exchanging electronic business transactions using the Internet, carries forward work initiated by OASIS and the United Nations Centre for Trade Facilitation and Electronic Business (UN/CEFACT).

"We applaud the outstanding efforts of the members of the OASIS ebXML Messaging Service Technical Committee in collaborating on this important standard for electronic business," said Patrick Gannon, president and CEO of OASIS. "Its overwhelming approval is a testament to the OASIS technical process, which fosters open development of standards at a pace that meets the needs of industry."

To attain status as an OASIS Standard, ebXML Messaging Service v2 was first approved by its development team as an OASIS Committee Specification. After being implemented by a minimum of three organizations, it then underwent a 90-day open review, before the final balloting of OASIS members.

"OASIS members enhanced the ebXML Messaging specification by simplifying, clarifying and modularizing the functionality for easier implementation," said Ian Jones, chair of the OASIS ebXML Messaging Services Technical Committee. "We look forward to continuing to build on this solid foundation and invite others to join us and put forth requests for future enhancements. We will be working closely with related groups at OASIS and W3C to ensure a synergy of our collective efforts."

ebXML Messaging is one of a suite of specifications that enables enterprises of any size and in any geographical location to conduct business over the Internet. ebXML Messaging Service v2 joins two other ebXML specifications that were recently approved as OASIS Standards, ebXML Registry Service (RS) v2 and ebXML Registry Information Model (RIM) v2. The ebXML Collaboration Protocol Profile and Agreement (CPPA) has completed the first-level of OASIS approval process as an OASIS Committee Specification. Development of ebXML specifications for Business Process and Core Component work continue with the UN/CEFACT process.

ebXML Messaging Service v2 was developed by Commerce One, Cyclone Commerce, eXcelon, Fujitsu, GE Global Exchange, IBM, Intel, Mercator, SAP, SeeBeyond, Sonic Software, Sterling Commerce, Sun Microsystems, Sybase, webMethods, and other OASIS Contributor and Individual members.

Industry Support for OASIS Standard: ebXML Messaging

"As an active member of the OASIS ebXML Messaging Service Technical Committee, Fujitsu is very pleased that the ebXML Messaging Service V2.0 was approved as an OASIS Standard," said Masahiko Fujita, Group Senior Vice President, Software Group, Fujitsu Limited. "Fujitsu has been a leading contributor to the ebXML Message Service specification, in particular by submitting reliable messaging functions. Interstage, Fujitsu's eBusiness infrastructure software product, supports the ebXML Message Service. We believe that the standardization of an open and reliable messaging specification is a major step toward achieving large scale interoperability among eBusiness systems on the Internet."

"The integration of business processes and technology systems with customers, channels and suppliers is essential for helping companies reap the rewards of Collaborative Commerce," said Chris Casgar, Senior Architect at NerveWire, Inc. "Now that the ebXML messaging service has evolved into a second generation standard, we will recommend it to our Fortune 500 high tech and financial services clients as an attractive option for driving standards into their external trading partner integration infrastructure. This will help them reduce their total cost of ownership of integration infrastructure, as well as provide high quality of service capabilities necessary for effective B2B integration and overcoming some shortcomings associated with current Web Services standards."

"SAA is a member of leading e-Business and XML associations, ensuring that organizations can benefit from the latest initiatives and ratified standards. Our expertise and experience in application integration and B2B data exchange has enabled the development of the REIMS product range. REIMS has extensive support for ebXML and other XML frameworks to facilitate the exchange of transactions within a community of business partners," said Alex Lochhead, Managing Director of SAA Consultants. "It is our goal to deliver true business interoperability and support e-business initiatives through our REIMS solutions and our involvement with OASIS and ebXML."

"The ebMS 2.0 specification extends the current state of the art in secure and reliable Internet data exchange for collaborative B2B electronic commerce, most notably EDI over the Internet and business quality Web services. With attention to B2B security, reliability and extensibility, it effectively bridges legacy EDI with emerging Web services-based infrastructure, technologies, interaction patterns and XML documents -- which is relevant and attractive for next generation B2B. This second release demonstrates an industry and vendor commitment to drive the standard forward," said Brian Gibb, Vice Chair of the OASIS ebXML Messaging Services TC and Director, Standards and Applied Technology for Sterling Commerce. "The current ebMS 2.0 implementation in our Sterling Integrator product is a first step in a long-term commitment to support and drive ebXML framework adoption among the Sterling Commerce customer base."

"ebXML messaging is designed to meet the practical requirements of electronic commerce in a way that fits existing legal and commercial frameworks" said Ed Julson, Sun's Group Marketing Mgr, XML & Web Services. "ebXML messaging is destined to play an important role in the transition of large-scale electronic commerce from private networks to the Internet. Sun has supported and contributed to the ebXML effort from day one, and believes ebXML is a key component in providing open, royalty-free standards for the development of global commerce."

"Sybase is pleased to see approval of version 2.0 of the ebXML Messaging Service Specification, and is proud to say that we have incorporated full support for ebXML Messaging 2.0 in our Web Services Integrator product, further augmenting our comprehensive, end-to-end ebXML solution," said Billy Ho, Senior VP and General Manager, e-Business Division of Sybase. "As one of four vendors to pass the Drummond interoperability testing earlier this year, we have demonstrated our commitment to delivering open, standards based, vendor interoperable e-Business solutions. ebXML Messaging 2.0 is a standard that can help the industry get one step closer to achieving this on a larger scale."

"TIBCO Software is committed to driving and supporting industry standards," said Ramin Sayar, director of products and solutions at TIBCO Software. "TIBCO is proud to be among the companies helping to advance the ebXML Messaging Service Specification v2.0 to various customers and industries. ebXML is the first comprehensive integration standard with a framework that provides companies a defined way to develop and deploy secure and reliable Web services."

"XML Global believes that ebXML Messaging is a key milestone for ensuring a secure, reliable and open e-Business infrastructure and we are committed to continuing our work in this critical area," said Matthew MacKenzie, Chief Software Architect for XML Global Technologies, Inc.

About OASIS (http://www.oasis-open.org)

OASIS (Organization for the Advancement of Structured Information Standards) is a not-for-profit, global consortium that drives the development, convergence and adoption of e-business standards. Members themselves set the OASIS technical agenda, using a lightweight, open process expressly designed to promote industry consensus and unite disparate efforts. OASIS produces worldwide standards for security, Web services, XML conformance, business transactions, electronic publishing, topic maps and interoperability within and between marketplaces. OASIS has more than 500 corporate and individual members in 100 countries around the world.