Archives
 
 
 
  Special
 
 
 
  About Us
 
 
 

Newsletter
Free E-mail Newsletter from BYTE.com

 
    
           
Visit the home page Browse the four-year online archive Download platform-neutral CPU/FPU benchmarks Find information for advertisers, authors, vendors, subscribers Request free information on products written about or advertised in BYTE Submit a press release, or scan recent announcements Talk with BYTE's staff and readers about products and technologies

ArticlesA Virtual Business Park


October 1997 / International Features / VPNs Proliferate / A Virtual Business Park
Valerie Thompson

When secretaries at Siemens Nixdorf, Germany's largest computer manufacturer, need letterhead for the office, they point their Web browser at http://www.Entropolis.de , enter a password, log on to an office supply contractor's on-line store, and order the items they need. The completed order links directly to the contractor's transaction-processing system. The shipment and bill follow within 24 hours.

This is just a simple example of how closed user grou ps and extranets can improve customer service and link business partners closer together. Users of the Entropolis virtual business park, set up by Advanced Services & Media, a subsidiary of Siemens Nixdorf, can form virtual common interest gr oups in financially separated malls. These malls may be public, or they may be accessible only to a closed group of users such as a trade association.

Entropolis interfaces directly with ordering and logistics systems from standard business process systems such as SAP's R/3 or Baan's Triton. Services include:

The first two types of services may sound familiar to users of Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) systems. However, services such as Entropolis or General Electric's Trading Process Network (TPN) in the U.S. are available to big and small vendors across markets. While the vendors of products typically pay a fee to the service provider, the buyers don't. (The cost of putting a company's product catalogs on Entropolis is between DM 40,000 and DM 80,000. In addition, suppliers pay about DM 7600 a month to rent space on the site.)


Up to the International Features section contentsGo to previous article: A Virtual Business ParkGo to next article: Fast-Forward to Fast EthernetSearchSend a comment on this articleSubscribe to BYTE or BYTE on CD-ROM  
Flexible C++
Matthew Wilson
My approach to software engineering is far more pragmatic than it is theoretical--and no language better exemplifies this than C++.

more...

BYTE Digest

BYTE Digest editors every month analyze and evaluate the best articles from Information Week, EE Times, Dr. Dobb's Journal, Network Computing, Sys Admin, and dozens of other CMP publications—bringing you critical news and information about wireless communication, computer security, software development, embedded systems, and more!

Find out more

BYTE.com Store

BYTE CD-ROM
NOW, on one CD-ROM, you can instantly access more than 8 years of BYTE.
 
The Best of BYTE Volume 1: Programming Languages
The Best of BYTE
Volume 1: Programming Languages
In this issue of Best of BYTE, we bring together some of the leading programming language designers and implementors...

Copyright © 2005 CMP Media LLC, Privacy Policy, Your California Privacy rights, Terms of Service
Site comments: webmaster@byte.com
SDMG Web Sites: BYTE.com, C/C++ Users Journal, Dr. Dobb's Journal, MSDN Magazine, New Architect, SD Expo, SD Magazine, Sys Admin, The Perl Journal, UnixReview.com, Windows Developer Network