Stories about: OnDisplay

Standard data interchange - enabling two computers to talk to each other - has been an ongoing problem for the US Federal Government because of its penchant for customised information technology systems. Now, with the push to put more Government services on the World Wide Web - a place where broad data access should be the rule - the compatibility problem is compounded.

Standard data interchange -- enabling two computers to talk to each other -- has been an ongoing problem for the government because of its penchant for customized information technology systems. Now, with the push to put more government services on the World Wide Web -- a place where broad data access should be the rule -- the compatibility problem is compounded.

E-commerce solution provider Clarus Corp. this week bought Redeo Technologies. Clarus will incorporate Redeo's Web-based payment settlement into its own software, eProcurement and eMarket. As part of the acquisition, Clarus gains large global customers, including Nortel and Abbott Labs.

Mike Giesler, vice president of business development and technology at Richmond, Virginia-based Envera LLC, is building an online trading hub for chemical companies. He wants the site to run smoothly, but he must solve a major problem first: automating the bill-paying process. After all, a high-tech transaction that ends with employees shuffling paper would lose its new-millennium shine.

A relative nerwcomer to the business-to-business exchange platform realm, webMethods Inc. is acquiring EAI (enterprise application integration) player Active Software Inc. in a $1.3 billion deal that puts webMethods on the short list of exchange integration providers.

This week brought the start of industry consolidation among the software vendors pioneering the use of XML, as WebMethods Inc. said it would buy Active Software Inc. and Vignette Corp. announced it would acquire OnDisplay Inc.

Looking to expand its customer base and rapidly move into the business-to-business e-commerce market, software maker Vignette Corp. in Austin, Texas, plans to acquire San Ramon, California-based OnDisplay Inc. in a $1.7 billion stock-swap deal, the companies said Monday.

The Nasdaq compounded last week's losses with a 6 percent drop this morning. The index dropped 177.24, to 3213.16, in morning trading. The stock market suffered from extremely low trading volume this morning. Investors appear to be wary of trading at a time when the Federal Reserve Board has taken a cautious stance, and they may already be apprehensive about the results of the board's next meeting, only four weeks away. The low volume exaggerated all of the market's movements this morning, heightening the pain of the sell-off. Large-cap losers this morning included Oracle Corp., which dropped 10 percent to $63.10, and Cisco Systems Inc., which lost 6 percent to $50.12. Dell Computer Corp. dropped 6 percent to $44.18. In the Internet sector, Ariba plunged 13 percent to $51.25, and Amazon.com INc. fell 9 percent to $47.93. Investors continued to rebuff merger news as well. Vignette Corp. announced a $1.7 billion stock deal to buy Internet software firm OnDisplay Inc. - and Vignette's stock promptly plunged 23 percent to $33.50. OnDisplay held steady, though, losing only 1 percent to $52.75. WebMethods Inc. announced plans to buy Active Software for $1.3 billion. Active Software lost 9 percent to $30.12, while WebMethods dropped 22 percent to $68.

They may be among the least sexy software mergers in history, but WebMethods Inc.'s proposed acquisition of Active Software Inc. for $1.3 billion and Vignette Corp.'s $1.7 billion deal to buy OnDisplay Inc. - both announced yesterday - are indicative of the growing momentum behind business-to-business e-commerce.

Start-up Trapezo Inc. announced a hosted application service that lets Web-based businesses regularly exchange content, with Trapezo acting as the middleman.

As more Internet business-to-business trading exchanges come online, there will be a wider selection from which buy-and sell-side participants may choose. Consequently, building and maintaining business relationships will become a major concern for all involved.