[ebmail-develop] Hermes Messaging Gateway v2.0 Supporting AS2 Released

[Dorris T. <cw...@ce...>]

Hermes Messaging Gateway v2.0 Supporting AS2 Released

Hong Kong SAR, Peoples Republic of China - December 16, 2005 - Center=20
for E-Commerce Infrastructure Development (CECID), The University of=20
Hong Kong (HKU) is pleased to announce Hermes Messaging Gateway v2.0=20
(Hermes 2) supporting ebMS and Applicability Specification (AS2) is=20
available for download. Thanks to project funding from the HKSAR=20
Government's Innovation & Technology Commission, the new version of the=20
messaging gateway has extended secure and reliable data transmission to=20
users of Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) and other=20
business-to-business data.

Released under GNU General Public License=20
(http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/gpl.html), Hermes 2 and its source code can=20
be downloaded for free from Freebxml (http://www.freebxml.org) and CECID=20
(http://www.cecid.hku.hk). Community support is provided through the=20
mailing list cec...@go....

Users and OEMs can also obtain professional support from Hermes' first=20
value-added partner, iASPEC Technologies=20
(http://www.iaspec.com/supportservicesforHermes2.htm). A non-GPL=20
enterprise edition, with extra features like message status query=20
capabilities and a Web-based GUI administrative tool for easy=20
configuration and management of the messaging gateway, is expected to be=20
made available by iASPEC in 1Q2006. This enterprise edition will free=20
commercial license customers from GPL's requirement of distributing=20
their proprietary source code.

For users requiring only ebMS messaging capabilities, Hermes 1 is still=20
available at Freebxml under Academic Free License=20
(http://www.opensource.org/licenses/afl-2.1.php) with community support=20
provided through ebx...@li....

Completed the AS2 Interoperability Testing AS-1Q05 with 29 other=20
participants (http://ebusinessready.org/as2.html) organized by U.S.=20
leading testing company, Drummond Group Inc., Hermes 2 enables real-time=20
communication through HTTP or HTTPS to transmit data over the Internet.=20
Besides, it provides security for the transport payload through Secure=20
Multi-Purpose Internet Mail Extensions (S/MIME), digital signatures and=20
encryption, while reliability and non-repudiation are achieved through=20
the use of receipts.

The AS2 standard, commonly used in supply chains by large retailers,=20
manufacturers and suppliers, is often regarded as the =93EDI over=20
Internet=94 standard. This latest version of Hermes facilitates large as=20
well as small enterprises to exchange EDI or other business-to-business=20
data with their partners and customers. It operates as a Java web=20
application. The ebXML Messaging Service (ebMS) and AS2 messaging=20
capabilities are facilitated by the corresponding plugins, which can be=20
easily developed by users through Hermes=92 Simple Plugin Architecture=20
specification. The messaging operation requires a database with JDBC=20
connectivity to keep track of the messaging status.

About iASPEC (http://www.iaspec.com)
iASPEC is an IT consulting and software services firm headquartered in=20
Hong Kong. Since its founding in 1988, the Company has built a solid=20
reputation with proven track records in serving its local and=20
international customers. The Company has subsidiaries and associated=20
firms in Mainland China and the United States of America. Leveraging on=20
the combined strength of its multi-location operations, iASPEC provides=20
innovative software products, high-quality IT consulting and=20
professional services to its clients in these expanded regions.

About CECID (http://www.cecid.hku.hk)
Established in January 2002, Center for E-Commerce Infrastructure=20
Development (CECID) at the University of Hong Kong conducts e-commerce=20
research and development with the vision of helping organizations=20
increase their competitiveness in the global economy. CECID develops=20
e-commerce enabling technologies, participates in important=20
international e-commerce initiatives, supports e-commerce=20
standardization for Hong Kong and the Asia Pacific Region, and transfers=20
e-commerce technology and skills to the community. With projects=20
primarily funded by the Hong Kong Government's Innovation and Technology=20
Commission, CECID is an active member of OASIS and the ebXML Asia=20
Committee. The Center also collaborates with a number of lead technology=20
users in the Asia-Pacific.

About Hermes 1 (http://www.cecid.hku.hk/hermes1.php)
In compliance with OASIS ebXML Message Service (ebMS*) standard, Hermes=20
1 is a Business-to-Business (B2B) Messaging Server which provides a=20
standardized, reliable and secure infrastructure for enterprises to=20
exchange business data on the Internet. Available under Academic Free=20
License, developers from 80+ economies have downloaded Hermes=92 source=20
code. Hermes 1 has many successful use cases, most of which are=20
innovative, cost-effective applications used by enterprises for exchange=20
of business documents such as POs and invoices. Besides ebXML Asia=20
Interoperability Certificates, Hermes has won Certificates of Merit=20
(Product Category) at the 6th HK Computer Society IT Excellence Awards=20
and the Asia-Pacific ICT Awards 2004 (R&D Category). Recently, Hermes=20
has won the Grand Award in Infrastructure Building and Communication=20
Application of Hong Kong Linux Business Award 2005.

PR Contacts for Press and Analysts:
Dorris Tai (cw...@ce...)
Business Manager
Center for E-Commerce Infrastructure Development (CECID)
Dept. of Computer Science
The University of Hong Kong
Tel: +852 2859 2818
Fax: +852 2547 4611
URL: http://www.cecid.hku.hk