Business-to-business software provider Commerce One Inc. and enterprise application integration vendor SeeBeyond Technology Corp. on Monday announced a strategic alliance that will, eventually, add EAI functionality to Commerce Ones portfolio.
Designed to help enterprises and their trading partners more easily integrate back-office applications with Commerce Ones software, the alliance is initially a reseller agreement whereby each company will offer the others technology on sales calls.
The relationship goes deeper than sales and marketing, though, as sometime this quarter Commerce One will offer its customers products co-developed with SeeBeyond.
The two companies began working together about a year and a half ago, through the Commerce One ISV program, which enables different vendors to integrate with Commerce One applications. Overall, Commerce One and SeeBeyond, of Redwood Shores, Calif., have about 20 joint customers through the ISV program, including DiamlerChrysler, Conoco, Corning and B.F. Goodrich.
In the course of the relationship, Commerce One also began working with SeeBeyond to jointly develop products. As a result, Commerce One will offer this quarter two separate bundles of solutions that deal with both back-office and trading partner integration.
Addressing back-office connectivity, Commerce One will offer adapters that integrate back-office apps from the likes of PeopleSoft Inc., Oracle Corp. and SAP AG to Commerce One applications.
Addressing trading partner connectivity, Commerce One will provide protocol gateways whereby customers can connect and transact back and forth using native protocols like RosettaNet or Electronic Data Interchange, according to officials.
Also with an eye toward trading partner connectivity, Commerce One will offer jointly developed trading partner onramps to help suppliers that are not eCommerce enabled to connect into Commerce Ones trading network and transact natively using xCBL, Commerce Ones XML transaction standard.
“From a customer perspective, theyre looking for integration capabilities from Commerce One to the back-office as well as out to trading partners,” said Jim Obsitnik, director of product management at Commerce One, in Pleasanton, Calif. “So with SeeBeyond, wed like to get that as tight as possible, so the customer doesnt have to do a lot of customization and integration.”
Moving forward, Commerce One will work more closely with SeeBeyond to develop out-of-the-box adapters focused around integrating specific business processes, said officials from both companies. The first two adapters will address sourcing and procurement processes.
The deal bodes well for both companies, according to Tyler McDaniel, senior analyst with the Hurwitz Group in Framingham, Mass.
“SeeBeyond is notoriously weak with cash at this point, so they need to make sure they are getting out in the market in as many channels as possible,” said McDaniel. “Commerce One has got to do something to keep itself afloat and connect its island of functionality to the rest of the world. And this deal could help. SeeBeyond has a name.”
