CommerceDesk, built around a core server, addresses trading partner management, program management and collaboration, testing and validation, community administration, and standards and specification development.

Sunny Singh, chief executive officer of Edifecs, said enablement -- the set of processes and relationships a company and its trading partners must establish to ready their B2B community for transactions and to manage its growth -- is currently performed manually. The CommerceDesk solution automates the process, which Edifecs said would allow companies to bring their trading partners online 55 to 65 percent more quickly.

"That's why we believe Edifecs CommerceDesk will drive a faster adoption of B2B e-commerce on a global scale," Singh said.

The solution is based on cross-platform technologies like Sun Java. It consists of both server- and desktop-based components, including:

• CommerceDesk Server: core Web-based community functionality, including trading partner management, collaboration, testing and validation, administration and reporting
• Applications: add-on component functionality, such as solutions for deploying Web-based forms for use by non-EDI enabled partners
• Tools: desktop tools tightly integrated with CommerceDesk server, such as Edifecs SpecBuilder -- a schema-authoring and management suite -- and the upcoming Edifecs FormsBuilder Web forms solution
• Standards: a comprehensive repository for managing and sharing the latest guidelines and specifications among partners
• Services: professional services for deployment, customization, training and support.

Edifecs' first CommerceDesk 4.0 client is General Electric Global eXchange Services, which is using CommerceDesk to solve enablement challenges for clients of its 100,000-member GXS network.

"Companies are now realizing that B2B e-commerce only works if you can build a community," said Otto Kumbar, vice president of Interchange Solutions at GE Global eXchange Services. "Our Net Community Manager offering, built on Edifecs CommerceDesk, is key to any successful B2B community."

Edifecs is licensing three versions of CommerceDesk. Prices start at $100,000 for CommerceDesk Enterprise Edition, while both CommerceDesk Service Edition and CommerceDesk Exchange Edition start at $500,000.


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