Mercator Wares Aid App Building

The Data Exchange Solution includes Mercator's Commerce Manager, Integration Broker and adapters to legacy applications, said Will Reilly, chief strategist for Mercator's manufacturing, retail and distribution group.

A recently announced alliance between Mercator and BEA Systems enables solution providers to use the new products with BEA's WebLogic Enterprise Platform, Reilly said.

Solution providers can use Data Exchange Solution to build a "superhub" system that provides transaction management, tracks orders and inventory, and implements back-office and marketplace integration for companies that deal with multiple partners, he said.

Mercator already has paired with systems integrators that have several customers using the solution to provide large-scale logistics systems, Reilly said.

The solution is available now for similar engagements, with pricing depending on the customer's needs, he said.

Mercator, based here, emerged in the early days of EAI, when vendors built proprietary adapters to integrate a company's applications, said Brad Murphy, senior vice president of strategic business development for Paris-based solution provider ValTech.

Mercator said it is changing to meet the needs of the current EAI market, which uses standards such as XML to integrate applications in an enterprise system. But Murphy warned that the core technology of many EAI vendors that are trying to reposition themselves is still based on specific legacy systems connections.

Steve Crosby, a managing director at KPMG Consulting, a Mercator partner, said Mercator has readily embraced XML and other vertical-industry standards for data transfer.

In addition, Crosby said Mercator's technology excels in its ability to transform data from one format to another at high speeds,a process that is essential to EAI.

"They are at the top of that category," Crosby said.