CHICAGO, IL. September 16, 1998.
Release 6 of the Open Applications Group Integration Specifications accelerates component integration and electronic commerce by adding capabilities for Supply Chain Integration and Extensible Markup Language (XML).
The Open Applications Group, Inc. (OAGI), a non-profit industry consortium comprised of many of the most prominent software-application vendors and associated organizations in the world, today announced publication of the next release of its integration specifications, the Open Applications Group Integration Specification (OAGIS).
This new release represents approximately 85 person-years of development work on the part of the OAGI development team and significantly advances the specification's comprehensive capabilities for open integration of business-application software components and enablement of electronic commerce.
Integration Specifications are Expanded
OAGIS Release 6 expands the robust functionality of the Specifications with Supply Chain, Logistics, Sales-Force Automation, and Customer Service interoperability specifications. The integration scenarios supported by OAGIS now include frameworks between:
Further, the OAGIS document has been enhanced to include guides for developers' use in implementing the Specification in products under development.
Specifications Support XML
The Open Applications Group is also pleased to announce full support for the industry-standard meta-data language, XML (Extensible Markup Language). The World Wide Web Consortium approved XML as a standard in February 1998. The Open Applications Group has done extensive prototyping with the language to successfully validate its applicability for application-component interoperability. In fact, the Open Applications Group has been working for several months with emerging software-tools and associated vendors to ensure high quality in the implementation of OAGIS in XML. The machine-readable Document Type Definitions (DTDs) necessary to define integration content to XML have been published on the OAGI website and are available for public access.
The Open Applications Group plans to continue to support its current meta-data capabilities while embracing XML.
New Release is met with Enthusiasm
This acceleration of the momentum of the Open Applications group has pleased people in the end-user community. ``Only when interoperability is based on standards will the true value of purchased software packages be realized. OAGIS is a leading-edge approach to addressing a significant part of this issue,'' said Bruce Ambler, who leads the CIO Enterprise Architecture, Object and Component Technology Group at Lucent Technology. ``It is important that customers join with vendors to achieve this goal.''
The addition of XML as a language for component interoperability has also been met with equal enthusiasm. ``DataChannel is excited that the Open Applications Group is embracing XML. Their stance will help accelerate the adoption of both XML and their OAGIS Specification,'' said David Pool, President and CEO of DataChannel, Inc., a corporate intranet-usability infrastructure and management company focused on supporting customers in their implementations of XML.
Availability of Release 6
OAGIS Release 6 is available at no charge on the OAGI website for download or online viewing. It is also available in print for a fee of US$100.
About the Open Applications Group, Inc.
The Open Applications Group, Inc. is the leading business-application software vendor association in the world. It advances industry awareness of issues and solutions regarding interoperability of business components and through the development and publication of a common specification that defines the dialogs required to integrate these components.
The Open Applications Group Integration Specification (OAGIS) defines inter-application integration scenarios, and details the content required for connecting the applications. The OAGIS encompasses interoperability specifications for front-office, back-office, and supply-chain business-software components, including Financial, Human Resources, Manufacturing, Supply Chain, and Logistics applications.
OAGI membership is comprised of many of the most prominent application vendors and associated organizations in the world, and includes American Software; CODA; Component Software; Computer Associates; CrossRoute Software; DATEV EG; EnvisionIT; Fortress Technologies; Glotech Solutions; IBM; Indus International; J.D. Edwards; Marcam Corporation; NEC Corporation; Oracle Corporation; PeopleSoft; PricewaterhouseCoopers; PSDI; QAD; SAP; and TSI International Software.
For Further Information
For further information, please visit our web site at
www.openapplications.org or contact:
OAGI Headquarters
401 North Michigan Avenue
Chicago, Illinois 60611
USA
Tel: +1 404 627 4454
Fax: +1 404 627 7771
Email: dchambless@openapplications.org.
Contact:
The Open Applications Group, Inc.
C. David Chambless
Tel: +1 404/627-4454
E-mail: dchambless@openapplications.org
[Note also: The main OAG database entry. See "OAGIS Release Six Now Available." - "Release Six of the Open Applications Group Integration Specifications (OAGIS) accelerates component integration and electronic commerce by adding capabilities for Supply Chain Integration and Extensible Markup Language (XML). In the report: Translation to XML. Copy of press release from from the OAG site.]