Fairfax, Va-based WebMethods Inc. this week will debut its webMethods for Trading Networks toolkit for creating new trading network infrastructures.
The toolkit will include graphical capabilities to establish, manage, and analyze the links and documents that users need to work with their trading partners as well as provide a new view into their network infrastructures.
The Trading Networks software will sit atop webMethods' back-end application integration software, and, for its analytical functions, will run against the relational database offerings of Oracle Corp., Sybase Inc., and Microsoft Corp.'s SQL Server, said Narinder Singh, director of Trading Networks at webMethods. The management and analysis features are intended to help users predict errors in transactions as well as anticipate problems, Singh said.
The Trading Networks software will include: a graphical user interface for managing the flow of business documents; transaction management capabilities governing interactions with trading partners, such as registration via the trading network; the creation and editing of trading partner profiles; the conversion of protocols, and the administration of digital certificates, webMethods officials said.
The vendor has also designed the Trading Networks software so that it "will link to any third-party application server that supports XML," Singh said.
To some extent, Trading Networks will serve as "a replacement for infrastructure components" that customers have developed on their own, Singh said. For instance, if a firm has developed a support system for digital certificates, it could swap out the customized system for Trading Networks, which promises greater traceability and validation, he said.
The need for this graphic view into the inner workings of business-to-business trading networks is starting to make itself clear even if it isn't a burning need at the moment, said industry analysts. As more and more businesses turn to exchanges for their e-commerce efforts, the need for graphic representations "will become manifest down the road," said Tyler McDaniel, an analyst at Hurwitz Group Inc., a market research firm based in Framingham, Mass.
Although it might be somewhat ahead of the curve, this move by webMethods is significant because it facilitates the sharing of information among businesses, the integration of trading partners as well as provide a much-needed new view into network infrastructure, said Kimberly Knickle, an analyst at AMR Research Inc., based in Boston. "This is kind of taking the next step," Knickle said. Applying graphic capabilities to trading networks expands an enterprise's view to "more than a single business-to-business view," she said.
The webMethods Trading Networks kit will be generally available by the end of this month, company officials said.