News
CommerceOne sets Web services course
- By John K. Waters
- July 23, 2002
Can Web services champions convince skeptical corporate IT managers that this
emerging technology can make it safe to spread the confidential data outside the
firewall? Struggling CommerceOne, once an Internet high flyer, is betting big
that the model can work.
Industry watchers said the Pleasanton, Calif.-based business-to-business
software developer is betting the farm on its ability to establish itself in
this space with the unveiling last week of a new product line designed to
leverage Web services for EAI.
The unveiling followed on the heels of news that CommerceOne sales plunged
dramatically in Q2 compared with the same quarter last year. Revenues for the
three months ended June 30 totaled $27.8 million, compared with $101.3 million
for the same quarter last year, and $31.8 million for the quarter ended March
31.
During a conference call with financial analysts, Commerce One officials
disclosed plans to institute a reverse one-for-ten stock split to shore up the
stock price.
''Our results continue to reflect very limited IT spending across all
geographic and vertical markets,'' said CEO Mark Hoffman during the call.
''However, we are seeing growth in the qualified pipeline for our Commerce One
suite while we build on our foundation in sourcing and procurement by developing
our new Web services solutions.''
Those Web services solutions, targeted for beta availability in Q4, will also
power Commerce One 6.0, a new suite of supplier relationship management (SRM)
Web services that will extend value beyond existing sourcing and procurement
applications.
Commerce One plans to ''redefine application integration and development by
leveraging its technology assets to deliver a collaborative Web services
platform,'' executives said. The new platform ''integrates applications within
and outside the enterprise, orchestrating information flow and business
processes with a powerful business process management engine. By linking
separate applications together in this unique way, companies will be able to
create composite applications that deliver enhanced functionality and value.''
At least one analyst likes the plan: ''Commerce One's aggressive move into
the collaborative infrastructure space and their leveraging of Web services
standards positions them to expand into a key market,'' said Shawn Willett,
principal analyst at Current Analysis. ''Commerce One is bringing a wealth of
experience and some interesting technologies to bear on the problem of providing
an infrastructure for Web services.''
About the Author
John K. Waters is a freelance writer based in Silicon Valley. He can be reached
at [email protected].