Press Releases
Group 8760 Announces First Production Implementation of IETF EDIINT AS2 Internet E-Commerce Solution in the Energy Industry
December 20, 2000 • Birmingham, Alabama
Group 8760 announced today that its widely used GISBAgent® software now supports the Internet Engineering Task Force's EDIINT AS2 specification, as adopted by the Gas Industry Standards Board (GISB), greatly increasing the value of GISBAgent® for electronic commerce.
EDIINT AS2 is a transport protocol capable of reliably and securely sending and receiving information over the Internet in multiple data formats, including the currently popular formats of ANSI X12 EDI and XML. The GISB AS2 profile uses features in AS2 to meet the energy industry's demanding Internet EDI communications requirements.
Rik Drummond, CEO of the Drummond Group and chairman of the IETF EDIINT work group, said, "EDIINT AS2 represents the convergence of the best practices in e-commerce learned by the energy, automotive, manufacturing and retail industries over the past five years. The AS2 standard was developed in the business community by a collaboration of business executives, industry standards groups and software vendors.
"This unique collaboration has yielded an international, cross-industry standard designed to address real business needs," Drummond continued. "Group 8760 has been a significant contributor to the development of this standard and has consistently demonstrated support for open industry standards in its products."
Dick Brooks, chief technical officer of Group 8760 and co-author of the EDIINT AS2 specification, said, "Group 8760 is the first vendor to have production implementation of EDIINT AS2 in the energy industry. The business community has heard all the promises about embracing Internet technology for e-commerce; GISBAgent® delivers on those promises today with a mature, proven electronic delivery mechanism for e-commerce."
Jim Buccigross, vice president of Group 8760's energy practice and chairman of the GISB Executive Committee, said, "EDIINT AS2 is the next stage in the evolution of the GISB EDM standards, demonstrating that the organization is keeping abreast of technology while protecting companies' investment in existing EDM solutions.
"Two companies participating in New York State's deregulated electricity market, Rochester Gas and Electric Corp. and New York State Electric & Gas Corp., are using the EDIINT AS2 version of GISBAgent® for Internet e-commerce," Buccigross said. "The incorporation of EDIINT AS2 is another example of Group 8760's technological leadership."
GISBAgent® by Group 8760 is the most widely used product for exchanging mission-critical data over the Internet between deregulated gas and electric trading partners. Group 8760's enabling technology, the InsideAgent® component architecture, provides the electronic infrastructure that allows clients to connect directly with customers, suppliers, distributors, manufacturers and other trading partners.
Additional information on Group 8760 is available on the Internet at http://www.8760.com or by contacting Helen Markland or Jim Mark at (205) 250-8053.