InterWorld to Launch B2B Commerce Software Upgrade

InterWorld plans to launch next week a new version of its Commerce Exchange software suite, which has been enhanced to target the burgeoning business-to-business (B2B) electronic commerce market.

Called Commerce Exchange Business Suite 4.0 (CX4), the software is scheduled to ship Sept. 20 and includes new features intended to smooth the automated selling process for manufacturers and distributors of physical goods. The upgrade extends the functionality of InterWorld's existing Commerce Exchange 3.15, which is geared more towards business-to-consumer sales.

One analyst called the product a "solid upgrade" and said it should help InterWorld compete more effectively with larger rivals like Broadvision Inc. and Art Technology Group Inc. (ATG). Besides the additional B2B functionality, CX4 depends less on proprietary InterWorld technologies and makes better use of open technologies like Java, said Joshua Walker, a senior analyst with Forrester Research Inc. in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

"The challenge for InterWorld is to pull off on this release and come up with a couple of big customer wins in order to be considered really in the same class" as ATG and Broadvision, Walker said. "This is an important stage for them."

Among the enhancements in CX4 are new features designed to reduce the effort it takes to update and manage catalogs. A supplier, for example, can now access a distributor's catalog via a Web browser and add, modify or delete products as their needs change, said Jed Alpert, InterWorld director of product marketing.

"You have approval on that so its not like they have unfettered access to your catalog, but it reduces your catalog management burden," Alpert said.

The company has also added tighter integration with online marketplaces from Ariba Inc. and Commerce One Inc., thanks to deals struck earlier this year with those two companies. Using protocols like Ariba's cXML and Commerce One's xCBL, sellers can now upload catalogs to those networks and interact directly with customers through the online marketplaces, according to Alpert.

CX4 also includes new search features including the ability for a customer to refine a search if it doesn't produce the desired result the first time. A search logging feature lets a seller see which terms in their catalog have been searched for, what results were produced, and which searches eventually led to a purchase.

"We've also added more support for contracts, so you can specify what products people get at what price, including any discount they may get," Alpert said. "We have contract override mechanisms for cost pricing that might move outside that price list."

CX4 also features InterWorld's Commerce Intelligence application which, among other things, lets sellers determine how efficiently their site is operating and how efficiently their customers are using it. The idea is that the seller can fine-tune practices in order to give the buying customer a more satisfying experience.

InterWorld officials acknowledge that their software isn't fully compliant with Sun Microsystems Inc.'s Java 2 Enterprise Edition (J2EE), and they don't expect it to be until some time next year. The software does support JSP (Java Server Pages) and EJB (Enterprise Java Beans), and can run Java servlets and native Java components, according to Alpert.

CX4 will be available for Windows NT and Solaris, and support Oracle and SQL Server databases. Pricing has yet to be announced.

InterWorld plans to release a separate upgrade to Commerce Exchange 3.15 for business-to-consumer transactions, which will be called Commerce Exchange Retail 4.0, officials said. A shipping date for that product wasn't announced.

Customers for CX4 include Oki Data Americas Inc., which is using CX4 to build a site where it will sell printers, fax machines and other peripherals to 400 of its resellers. Oki expects to complete its migration from Commerce Exchange 2.5 in the next month or so. Other customers include Melville, New York-based MSC Industrial Supply Co., and IKON Office Solutions Inc. of Valley Forge, Pennsylvania, which sells copying, printing and imaging equipment, InterWorld said.

InterWorld, in New York, can be contacted at +1-877-326-6637, or at http://www.interworld.com/.

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