Microsoft Business Network Cancelled

The Microsoft Business Network (MBN) will no longer be offered as a stand-alone application, but MBN features will be incorporated into other Microsoft Business Solutions products, such as Great Plains and Axapta. The retirement announcement, posted by Microsoft to a public newsgroup, offers little detail about how MBN’s functions will be incorporated into other products, or when Microsoft will do so. Microsoft will assist existing MBN customers in moving to alternative solutions.

Software, Services for Trading Networks

MBN, launched in Oct. 2003, was designed to help small and midsize businesses automate and manage supply chains. It combined onsite software and subscription-based, Microsoft-hosted Web services to help companies connect to their partners and exchange business documents, such as purchase orders and invoices. MBN integrated with Great Plains-for example, purchase orders received from an MBN partner could be moved directly into a company’s Great Plains order system.

One major goal of the MBN was to help small companies with limited computer savvy participate in electronic trading networks without requiring large investments in software, infrastructure, or integration services. Companies could interact with the MBN using Outlook 2003 and Excel 2003; planned features included the ability to interact with MBN with nothing more than a Web browser.