Linking mobile devices to business software
Microsoft and German software giant SAP are teaming up to connect mobile devices with enterprise software.
The two companies announced plans to develop technology for connecting Microsoft Windows CE-based and other mobile devices to SAP's business applications using the Internet and the Microsoft's BizTalk Framework.
The project uses Microsoft BizTalk Framework program and the work SAP is doing to integrate new technologies that will enable handheld or wearable Internet appliances to intelligently interoperate and interact with mySAP.com, the company's portal service.
The companies plan to demo products based on Microsoft's BizTalk Framework and SAP business applications at SAP's Saphire '99 user conference next month.
The BizTalk framework is a scheme to tie together industry-specific versions of XML, which is gaining widespread attention as a way to conduct e-commerce over the Internet.
XML, or eXtensible Markup Language, is a protocol for sharing data and integrating e-commerce applications. It lets developers create "tags" for items, such as product types or price, that are defined in the object itself, resulting in more efficient data exchange and better Internet searching capabilities.