Mindreef SOAPscope 4.0 First to Connect Development, Testing and Support Teams
(Hollis, NH) - Mindreef, Inc., has released Mindreef SOAPscope 4.0, the company's flagship Web services diagnostics system. SOAPscope allows for the complete capture and assembly of all evidence related to a Web services problem. With Version 4.0, SOAPscope is the first to enable seamless sharing of these artifacts between developers, testers, operations, and support teams - expediting the problem-solving process and overcoming "finger pointing" delays. SOAPscope 4.0 also offers significant new features, including support for secure Web services using SSL certificates, and the industry's first diagnostic support for the newly released WS-I Basic Profile 1.1 and WS-I Attachments Profile 1.0.

SOAPscope 4.0 introduces two concepts that advance the role of diagnostics for SOAs: "Workspace" creates a place to easily collect and organize problem data, while "Packaging" enables clear and consistent sharing of the problem data with the appropriate specialist. SOAPscope's diagnostic tools (debugging, testing, tuning) then allow the specialist to operate on the problem data and quickly solve the problem.
www.mindreef.com

webMethods Portal Provides Charter Communications with Single Access Point
(Fairfax, VA) - Charter Communications, Inc., a broadband communications company, has chosen webMethods, Inc., the industry's first Web services infrastructure company, to deploy webMethods Portal to aggregate business-critical internal Web-based applications, tools, and Web sites into a single unified Web interface as well as serve as an internal document repository.

webMethods Portal will streamline Charter employee access in the monitoring of network status, services and products. It also will serve as Charter's single point of access for providing secure, role-based system access on the basis of employee location and responsibilities. Implementing webMethods Portal will improve employee efficiency, as employees will no longer need to access several systems to perform duties and only those employees with specifically assigned access will utilize the systems.
www.charter.com, www.webMethods.com

Entrust and Vordel to Deliver a Comprehensive Security Solution
(Dublin & Dallas) - Vordel, an XML security company, and Entrust, Inc., a provider of identity and access management solutions, have signed a global distribution agreement that licenses Entrust to resell and support Vordel products worldwide. Incorporating VordelSecure, the XML gateway, and VordelDirector, the XML security server, into the Entrust Secure Identity Management Solution portfolio will help enable Entrust to expand its solution, which secures both Web site and Web service access to its enterprise customers.

The combined solution from Entrust and Vordel means that enterprises will not require separate security architectures for their business services and Web services applications. It offers a unified, consistent access policy infrastructure to enforce security across existing and new Web and Web services applications, thereby helping to enable greater efficiencies and cost savings.

This is a key extension to Entrust's Secure Identity Management Solution that provides authentication, authorization and provisioning capabilities. Organizations will have the capability to define authentication and access policy centrally, and have it enforced for both Web and Web services transactions. Vordel's XML security capabilities can be readily added to Entrust GetAccess) deployments due to the tight integration between the two product families. This agreement also provides customers with a single point of purchase and global support for their Web and Web services security needs.
www.entrust.com, www.vordel.com

IBM and Sun Join Microsoft on Web Services Event Spec
IBM, Sun Microsystems, and Computer Associates International now support the WS-Eventing specification for subscribing to Web services-based events, joining original developers Microsoft, BEA Systems, and Tibco Software.

The specification will define a baseline set of operations that allow Web services to provide asynchronous notifications to interested parties. For example, an event notification could pertain to shipping of an order or e-mail arriving. Microsoft officials cited desires for interoperability between different specifications as reasons why rivals such as Sun and IBM are climbing aboard.

Xamlon, Inc. Releases Xamlon v0.9 with Visual Studio.NET Integration
(La Jolla, CA) - Xamlon, Inc., an XAML resource for developers, has announced a new beta release of its development tool, Xamlon. The Xamlon engine enables developers to use XAML to rapidly build and deploy applications for current versions of Windows with the confidence that their applications will easily port to future Windows releases. A key new feature of Xamlon v0.9 is the integration of Visual Studio.NET 2003, which allows developers to harness the power of Visual Studio to design rich application interfaces and automatically generate the XAML code for those interfaces. Other new features of Xamlon v0.9 include basic 3-D support, new samples and an Adobe Illustrator SVG to XAML converter. The beta is available for free public download at www.xamlon.com.

StrikeIron Partners with DataFlux
(Research Triangle Park, NC) - August 30, 2004 ? StrikeIron, Inc., a pioneer of online services and software to simplify working with Web services, and DataFlux Corporation, a provider of data management solutions, are partnering to provide components of the DataFlux Web-based technology as hosted StrikeIron Premium Web services available through the StrikeIron Web Services Business Network (WSBizNet). Available now, the first component is the StrikeIron Address Verification Premium Web Service. This Premium Web Service is available on a real-time, on-demand basis with a "pay-per-use" subscription, providing customers with a lower cost and lower risk option to take advantage of DataFlux's data management capabilities. Small- to medium-size businesses and departments in larger companies can now take advantage of this capability without having to invest in additional infrastructure and tools.
www.strikeiron.com, www.dataflux.com