New Business Tools for Next Commerce Server

A beta version of Commerce Server 2006, the next version of Microsoft’s server application for building e-commerce Web sites, replaces its predecessor’s business user utility (called the Business Desk) with new, faster tools based on the .NET Framework. In addition, the release improves integration with BizTalk Server, which will make it easier for customers and partners to integrate Commerce Server with other business management applications, such as SAP. Microsoft provides tools to help customers move existing Commerce Server data to the new version; however, existing site code must be modified to run on Commerce Server 2006.

A Platform for E-Commerce

Introduced in 2000, Commerce Server extends the Internet Information Server (IIS) Web server with specific capabilities for designing, building, deploying, and maintaining e-commerce Web sites. The most recent version of the product (Commerce Server 2002) includes modules for managing product catalogs, processing orders, user tracking and personalization, targeted marketing, and data analysis. It uses SQL Server to store and retrieve data. Commerce Server competes with e-commerce products from IBM, Oracle, SAP, and BroadVision among others.