By Sarah Left, 5 October 1999 12:35
NEWS Intershop Communications has launched a Java and XML-based ecommerce software package called Enfinity. Announcing the product at the Intershop Open conference in New York, CEO Stephen Schambach claimed the software will enable businesses to sell online far more simply than is possible with rival offerings. "There will be no more ecommerce islands," he said, noting his company's commitment to open standards like XML and ICE. "Everything fits, everything connects, everything works." Schambach stressed his company's view that silent commerce - where machines conduct business with each other without human involvement - will be the next, important ecommerce frontier. It is XML that will make the promise of silent commerce a reality, he said. Schambach wants to see companies allowing, for example, a printer to order itself more toner by using XML to find the best deal available on the Net. "Who doesn't want to sell while they sleep?" he asked. Mark Reed, a management consultant with PricewaterhouseCoopers, has been testing Enfinity with UK Internet start-up, Octave Music. "The thing Intershop is offering is the modular, Enterprise Java Beans architecture," he said. He compared the software to Lego, insisting that personalisation can be dropped in with relative ease. Reed also praised Enfinity's emphasis on giving business people control over the ecommerce space. "You can have business managers configuring the systems directly," he said. Enfinity will be available on 25 October. A typical installation will cost around $300,000.
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