VORDEL DELIVERS SECURE WIRELESS XML TRANSACTIONS
by Nicki Hayes, May 10, 2001
Could This Be "As Good As It Gets"?
- Last week, a company, which shares its name with a neurotic dog from an Oscar winning film starring Jack Nicholson at perhaps his most disturbed, launched the world's first solution allowing secure wireless XML transactions using Windows CE on a PDA. "Secure wireless XML transactions" - three technology hotbeds in one proposition- could this be "As Good As It Gets"? WDN's European correspondent Nicki Hayes investigates.
When WDN received a press release from a company called Vordel last week, our attention was caught for more than one reason. For starters, Vordel claimed to be delivering a "wireless first." On top of that, this involved secure wireless XML transactions. Three technology hotbeds in one proposition. We decided it was worth investigating.
Why? Well, first of all, the solution, part of Vordel's Talk XML product suite, uses Public Key Infrastructure (PKI)-or digital signature-technology. PKI has been going through a minor identity crisis lately. Indeed, a recent report by the Gartner Group states that around 80 per cent of PKI trials have been abandoned by companies because PKI is difficult to install and expensive to use. Then, last week, came the reassurance the industry's been waiting for:
In its report "Creating Trust: PKI and authentication and encryption technologies," Datamonitor tips PKI as the hottest security platform around, predicting revenues of over $2.6bn by 2006. The reason for its sudden popularity seems to be the unique end-to-end security solution that Wireless PKI (WPKI) brings to the wireless world. Over the next five years, according to the report, "PKI uptake will be powered by the growth of the mobile internet services and next generation networks."
A good place to be then
The release also promised the delivery of XML content to wireless devices. Like WPKI, XML is a key enabler of the mobile internet - so, another hot place to be.
XML is a way of exchanging generic data and will facilitate the delivery of customized data in realtime for each of the potential millions of wireless and wired internet customers of the future. It is able to do this because, unlike HTML, it separates content from presentation, sending chunks of content that consist purely of data and allowing styling to occur as the information is delivered. This means that the information can be easily and automatically reformatted for any web-accessing device.
That's not all XML delivers to web-based applications though. Its many benefits include openness, simplicity, extensibility, local processing and manipulation, as well as multilingual capabilities, to name but a few. Add these benefits to those of the end-to-end security enabled by WPKI, and Vordel's TalkXML begins to sound pretty interesting.
Indeed, TalkXML is well worth investigating. Using PKI and XML technology it secures and automates online processes, such as order forms and reservation and authorization systems. What is unique about it is that it makes such processes available from any device running the Microsoft CE operating system, including PDAs and other wireless devices. David Ryan, CEO of Vordel, explains:
"This development removes the dependence on proprietary software solutions for hand-held devices by allowing companies to use any device running the Windows CE wireless operating system.
"Any organization that has a requirement for mobile reporting of sensitive data will enjoy significant cost savings using this solution. The reporting of mission-critical data securely from a mobile workforce in different locations is of particular relevance to industries such as aerospace, military, health and utilities."
Let's examine just one of these industries then-aerospace. Consider all the checks that need to be carried out as an aircraft is landing to ensure it meets safety standards for its onwards journey. Traditionally, such checks are carried out using printed forms that then go through many various processes and applications. Solutions developed with TalkXML will now allow onflight representatives to complete and encrypt XML forms on a PDA device that are accessible via any web browser. This will automate the process and lead to significant savings in both cost and time. Furthermore, because the information is transmitted using XML, TalkXML is easily integrated with a corporation's legacy back-end system.
So, the launch of Vordel's wireless version of TalkXML is pretty good news for the wireless industry, even if it isn't "As Good As It Gets." Regardless, with its focus firmly on secure XML, Vordel looks like a company well worth watching.
Previous NewsByte...
Isle of Man overtakes Japan in the worldwide 3G
About the author:
Nicki Hayes is a freelance writer and corporate communications consultant specialising in business to business internet issues. She has contributed editorial to a number of publications including Unstrung.com, Guardian Online, Financial Times, Banking & Financial Training, eAI Journal and Secure Computing. Nicki is also the European correspondent for The Wireless Developer Network. Nicki is based in Dublin, Ireland and also has a base in Cambridge, UK. Through her consultancy, Hayes-Singh Associates, she has access to a number of technical writers and PR consultants throughout Ireland and the UK.
|
