CNET
September 23, 1997
GE Information Services, a unit of General Electric
(GE), today launched a new version of its GE
InterBusiness Partner service, which lets companies
set up extranets using GEIS's infrastructure.
Version 2.0 of the GEIS service, built on Netscape
Communication's (NSCP) SuiteSpot 3.1 software,
sets up private trading communities on an
outsourced basis. It integrates legacy systems with
email, Web pages, and discussion groups for
communication and information sharing.
GEIS also announced that its sales force will
distribute ECXpert and SellerXpert, products of
GE's joint venture with Netscape called Actra. The
two products are part of Actra's CommerceXpert
line of e-commerce software. Netscape announced
last week that its sales force also will market the
Actra software.
"We wanted to fill the hole in the product line with
NT," said Nick Marchetti, the GEIS global product
manager for ECXpert. "When we look at pipeline
for potential sales, 75 to 80 percent are on the
Windows NT platform. We've been trying to get an
NT product to market for some time."
GEIS called distribution of ECXpert a "key step" in
its strategy to extend traditional EDI, a forms-based
means of communicating directly from computer to
computer without human intervention, and
conducting electronic commerce over the Internet.
GEIS operates the largest value-added network for
conducting EDI over secure private networks.
ECXpert is available now on Sun Solaris and will
be available on NT within 30 days. SellerXpert is
due to ship within 30 days.
