WebMethods to expand EMall

Defense Department officials announced today that they have chosen a webMethods Inc. platform to integrate DOD's EMall system with other applications that extend the electronic procurement system.

DOD's EMall uses the Internet to offer buyers a single access point for procuring off-the-shelf, finished goods from commercial marketplaces and government suppliers. WebMethods will further expand the functionality of EMall with a common platform that will connect about 30,000 new vendors directly to the government user's back-end procurement system, enabling a paperless purchasing environment, said Al Fox, the company's director of public-sector operations.

DOD also will use the webMethods integration platform to join DOD EMall to major marketplaces, exchanges and suppliers, including the Ariba Commerce Services Network, Exostar and Aeroxchange.

Don O'Brien, DOD EMall program manager at the Defense Logistics Agency, said the goal of the program is to "improve material availability and reduce cost," and the webMethods platform "enriches the functionality of DOD EMall in a way that was not previously possible."

In addition to the EMall contract with DOD, webMethods' other federal customers include the Army, the Navy, the Air Force, the Defense Finance and Accounting Service, the Transportation Department, the Environmental Protection Agency and the General Services Administration.