INDUSTRY BRIEFS EDI To Messaging From Mercator. TSI International Software Ltd. {TSFW}, is adding EDI-to- messaging translation to Mercator's bag of tricks. Wilton, Conn,-based TSI's Mercator is an EDI mapping and translation product. Mercator will be able to connect directly to Armonk, N.Y.-based IBM's {IBM} MQSeries enterprise messaging software, which is used for moving data between business application. TSI says this new feature will allow its customers to quickly and easily develop end-to-end integration solutions between enterprise applications where transformation and guaranteed delivery of complex message formats is essential. Such data formats as SAP R/3, EDI, HL7 (healthcare), and S.W.I.F.T. (banking) are now connectable with the enhanced Mercator. "Data transformation is an essential requirement for integrating applications where MQSeries is now being used," says Colin Osborne, MQSeries senior business manager at IBM. "Mercator brings market- leading data transformation power to address this

[INDUSTRY BRIEFS EDI To Messaging From Mercator. TSI International Software Ltd. {TSFW}, is adding EDI-to- messaging translation to Mercator's bag of tricks. Wilton, Conn,-based TSI's Mercator is an EDI mapping and translation product. Mercator will be able to connect directly to Armonk, N.Y.-based IBM's {IBM} MQSeries enterprise messaging software, which is used for moving data between business application. TSI says this new feature will allow its customers to quickly and easily develop end-to-end integration solutions between enterprise applications where transformation and guaranteed delivery of complex message formats is essential. Such data formats as SAP R/3, EDI, HL7 (healthcare), and S.W.I.F.T. (banking) are now connectable with the enhanced Mercator. "Data transformation is an essential requirement for integrating applications where MQSeries is now being used," says Colin Osborne, MQSeries senior business manager at IBM. "Mercator brings market- leading data transformation power to address this critical need. When combined with MQSeries, customers are able to implement advanced messaging applications in far less time than using conventional programming." The price of the MQSeries enhancement begins in the low $20,000s. (Steve Rosen, TSI, 800/ 338-4194, www.tsisoft.com.) Sterling Ranked High By Forbes. Sterling Commerce of Dallas, Texas nabbed eight-place among the top 200 best-performing small businesses in the United States in a Forbes Magazine listing. Forbes ranked companies based on five-year average return on equity (ROE). Sterling Commerce posted a 60.6 percent ROE. Citing a booming business and projected earnings of $85 million, or $1 a share, on sales of $350 million, Forbes concluded, "Investors love it. Sterling now sports a market value of $3.3 billion -- nearly 10 times revenues, 39 times earning." In other news, Sterling is promoting David Dodge from senior vice president of sales to president of Commerce Business Division, which builds, manages and services electronic commerce trading communities for organizations worldwide. Paulette White is moving from her position as vice president of information services for Columbus, Ohio-based CompuServe {CSRV} to become president of Sterling's Commerce Internet division. David Pond will be the new group senior vice president of commerce operations services. Bob Heard is climbing into the vice presidency of the Commerce Payment Business Unit, and David O'Meara is moving into the position of vice president of business development. Sterling is also launching the latest version of its CONNECT:Mailbox 3.1, which allows EDI via the Internet using the industry standard file transfer protocol (FTP). (Dave Kishler, Sterling Commerce, 614/793-4020, www.stercomm.com.) Actra Ships BuyerXpert Early! Sunnyvale, Calif.-based Actra is shipping its latest product, BuyerXpert, earlier than projected. BuyerXpert is the purchasing component of the CommerceXpert suite of EDI/Internet applications. CommerceXpert will consist of five products, ECXpert, SellerXpert, MerchantXpert and PublishingXpert. ECXpert and SellerXpert have already shipped. BuyerXpert costs $250,000 and will be marketed through Actra's parent companies, Netscape {NSCP} and GE Information Services {GE}. (Suzanne Burnip, Actra, 408/542-3181.)]