GE Global eXchange Services, a business-to-business Internet commerce provider, said yesterday that it was offering Web services capabilities in support of e-commerce transactions for small and mid-sized enterprises.
The provider said the goals are to help companies be more cost-effective, reduce supply chain cycle times and accelerate responsiveness to customers by automatically sending and receiving business documents over the Web with minimum or “no hands-on participation.”
GE Global eXchange said the new capabilities are designed to let these enterprises easily integrate with large trading communities and increase their reach of electronic trading.
The provider incorporated Web services capabilities into its Network-Based Translation service, which lets businesses transact with their trading partners in almost any type of data format.
The NBT service now supports these Internet connectivity options used by small and mid-sized businesses: WSDL (Web services definition language) and SOAP (single object access protocol) for secure data transfer using Web services technology; and Web forms — data can be keyed directly into a standardized Web form and sent to NBT for translation into a data format acceptable to the recipient.
Data received through the form can be printed or downloaded in an eXtensible markup language (XML) format; HTTP/s (secure hypertext transfer protocol) for connectivity over the Internet; or FTP (file transfer protocol) for connectivity via VPN (virtual private network), dial IP (Internet protocol) or leased line.
