Interface Pushes Linux-Based B2B E-Commerce

The Cleo Products Group, an Interface Systems (Nasdaq: INTF) company that provides business-to-business (B2B) e-commerce communications tools, has joined the growing corporate migration to Linux by adding support for the open-source platform to its Cleo 3780Plus product.

Cleo 3780Plus, which will now work with Linux, UNIX and Windows, allows B2B e-commerce operations to exchange such data as order and purchase information between users and a company’s mainframe and midrange systems.

Extending the Legacy

“This upgrade expands our company’s reach from the oldest mainframe to the newest operating system,” commented Cleo Vice-President Donald Redding.

According to Forrester Research, some $327 billion (US$) is expected to be exchanged in B2B transactions by 2002. Cleo 3780Plus has been available for more than 15 years, and adopters of the solution include Ford, Blue Cross/Blue Shield and Wal-Mart.

Interface Systems creates Legacy-to-Internet (L2i) technology that enables Internet applications to access information stored on legacy systems. The company specializes in Internet bill presentment and electronic delivery of statements.

Tarantella and 64-Bit Linux

In other Linux news, SCO (Nasdaq: SCOC) announced Tuesday that it is working on delivering a version of its Tarantella Web-enabling software for Linux.

“Tarantella is a killer application for ASPs that will Web-enable their application suites for the Itanium-processor based server market,” stated Peter Bondar, vice president of Tarantella marketing at SCO. “ASPs will benefit from the enhanced performance of the new Itanium, as well as the scalability that Tarantella offers.”

The new product, which will work with the Monterey/64 and 64-bit Linux platforms utilizing an Intel Itanium processor-based server prototype, will give users access to such capabilities as remote administration and secure, Web-based access to Windows, mainframe, Linux and UNIX applications.

Itanium-Ready

The new SCO Tarantella Linux product line will ship on schedule with the availability of Itanium processor-based servers and workstations. Tarantella, which uses a three-tier architecture and industry-standard protocols to ensure application compatibility, provides single-point administration designed to simplify installation, maintenance and upgrades of business-critical applications.

“Tarantella represents another exciting business-critical solution committed to be available during the second half of this year, when Itanium processor-based systems begin to ship,” said Michael Pope, director of Intel’s enterprise software programs. “This combination will offer an additional choice for e-business solutions.”

About SCO

SCO is a provider of UNIX-based business solutions, and is a proponent of the open-source movement, calling it “a driving force for innovation and business opportunities.” The company has made strategic investments in several Linux and open-source companies, including e-commerce portal LinuxMall.com and software vendor TurboLinux.