By Rachel Chalmers
Netfish Technologies Inc, a former custom software developer, has announced as its first commercial product a business-to-business e-commerce system that depends on Java and XML. The Netfish XDI system consists of three parts: a set of application adapters to convert information from the major ERP packages to XML; a communications and messaging infrastructure; and a workflow and business process automation tool. Netfish XDI supports RosettaNet and the company plans to target RosettaNet’s early members with its freshly honed sales pitch.
Gary Kinghorn, director of marketing, says Netfish’s only real competition at the moment comes from WebMethods. The difference between the two company’s offerings, as he sees it, is that WebMethods has focussed on the ERP-to-XML adapter, to the exclusion of messaging and workflow. Kinghorn admits that some of the enterprise application integration vendors are experts in this field – Xtricity and Vitria for two – but he criticizes their dependence on proprietary software. XML is somewhat of a secondary story for them, he says. And while Agile is using XML to solve specific business to business problems, Kinghorn says its software is not extensible, and is thus most useful for specific point solutions.
If Kinghorn is right, and no other e-commerce has quite the same mix of features as Netfish XDI, the company could clean up in the XML EDI market. EDI is a low-hanging fruit for us, Kinghorn admits happily. He believes the Java/XML combination is much more cost-efficient then conventional EDI implementations, as well as being vastly more capable. If the sales story alone isn’t enough, there’s always the viral marketing approach. Netfish lets its customers give away the client software, meaning a typical supply chain exposes five or ten companies besides the customer to the company’s technology. Those suppliers become qualified sales leads in their turn.
Kinghorn says Netfish XDI can be installed for under $100,000 and that it will handle virtually unlimited transactions. From the manufacturing industry in which it got its start, Netfish hopes to extend into consumer packaged goods and the grocery industry. The company’s odd name comes from the initial conception of the underlying technology, which was to have XML messages working as agents, scouring the network for the best available prices. Whether Netfish is a minnow or a great white shark remains to be seen.
