SAN FRANCISCO -- Sun Microsystems, Inc. announced the availability of the Sun(TM) ONE Integration Server Secure Trading Agent, a new Java(TM) technology-based integration product that enables customers to securely and reliably exchange XML, EDI or any other electronic documents between trading partners over the Internet. The availability of this product, combined with several recent additions to the overall Sun ONE Java Web Services offering, demonstrates that Sun is addressing the cost, complexity, risk and integration challenges faced by enterprise developers and customers as they adopt Web services technology. The Sun ONE Integration Server Secure Trading Agent is provided as an extension to the Sun ONE Integration Server B2B Edition (see related announcement). A business-to-business solution built on Internet and Web service standards such as XML, ebXML and SOAP with attachments, the Sun ONE Integration Server Secure Trading Agent delivers secure, reliable messaging with lower cost and less complexity than traditional Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) solutions using Value Added Networks (VANs) for message transport. For example, customers can save up to $75,000 in monthly charges using the Sun ONE Integration Server Secure Trading Agent and the Sun ONE Integration Server B2B Edition, thereby eliminating the need for a VAN. The Sun ONE Integration Server Secure Trading Agent is available now at a price of $2,000 per host connection. "The availability of the Sun ONE Integration Server Secure Trading Agent is an important step in Sun's larger strategy to deliver the most complete, integrated and feature-rich set of Java Web Services products in the industry," said Mark Bauhaus, vice president, Java Web Services for Sun Microsystems. "Not only does Sun deliver a compelling set of products for users and developers, but our recent election to the board of the Web Services Interoperability (WS-I) Organization demonstrates our commitment to working with other vendors to accelerate the adoption of Web services." Several recent developments and announcements underscore Sun's continued focus on delivering the products, technologies and industry leadership needed to make Web services a market reality. These include: -- The availability of the Sun ONE Integration Server Secure Trading Agent, a peer-to-peer technology, featuring SSL security support and digital signatures; message reliability through persistence and non-repudiation; and a browser based user interface. Combined with the Sun ONE Integration Server B2B Edition, Sun is also providing Applicability Statement 2 (AS2) support, a key retail industry protocol that leading retail vendors require small and medium-sized suppliers to support. -- The March 26, 2003 announcement by the Web Services Interoperability Organization (WS-I) that Mark Hapner, Sun Distinguished Engineer and chief Web services strategist at Sun was elected to the board of directors, demonstrating broad industry alignment in the push to establish a set of converged and open standards for Web services. Sun joins founding board members Accenture, BEA Systems, Fujitsu, HP, IBM, Intel, Microsoft, Oracle and SAP and fellow elected member Webmethods. The elected term began on April 1, 2003. -- The recent announcement of the availability of the Sun ONE Web Services Platform Developer Edition, the industry's most complete and fully integrated platform for Java Web Services and application development. The Sun ONE Web Services Platform delivers an integrated platform offered at a single price and containing all the elements necessary to develop network based, enterprise applications. For more information visit: http://wwws.sun.com/software/products/dev_platform/home_devplat . -- The recent announcement that Sun has submitted a proposal to the Java Community Process(SM) (JCP) that would expand the way Java developers build integration solutions by providing a standardized container for business integration components as part of the Java platform. By introducing this new integration architecture, Sun anticipates that business integration will quickly converge with Web services, helping to accelerate the adoption of Web services and reduce integration costs and complexity. For more information visit: www.jcp.org.