Hubspan officials have announced the WebSpan Connect product line, which they describe as a suite of basic business integration packages designed for small and medium enterprises (SMEs).

WebSpan Connect launches with four packages, including secure managed file transfer, e-invoicing, electronic purchase order and eCommerce punchout.

The new packages unveiled today include a purchase order connector, for purchase orders, obviously, as well as other messages such as purchase order acknowledgements and shipping and delivery notices, in a secure environment.

There's also an invoice connector for electronic exchange of invoices, as well as other invoice-related messages across systems, applications and enterprises. It supports all invoicing formats, from EDI 810 and 811 to procurement systems, such as Ariba, SAP, Oracle (News - Alert) and Lawson, as well as in-house applications.


"Companies of all sizes have an increasing need to exchange information and automate business processes, but SMEs particularly need products that are cost-effective and enable them to start small while providing a fast time to value," says Margaret Dawson, VP of marketing, Hubspan.

A couple weeks ago TMC had the news that Hubspan was named by Gartner (News - Alert) to the "Visionaries" quadrant of the Magic Quadrant for Integration Service Providers. The Gartner Magic Quadrant positions vendors within a particular segment based on completeness of vision and their ability to execute on that vision.

The Magic Quadrant has 15 weighted criteria that plot vendors, like Hubspan, based on their relative strengths in the market, including overall viability, customer experience, market responsiveness and track record and innovation.

The report also noted that the B2B integration market has shown strong innovation and maturity, stating: "The bar is raised: Expanding globalization, larger communities, e-invoicing, service oriented architecture, more-sophisticated processes, cloud computing and improved service-level agreements are driving integration service providers to new levels of maturity."

The Gartner analysts' forecast continued strong demand for integration services, estimating that companies worldwide spent more than $1.5 billion on integration as a service and B2B integration outsourcing and expect organizations to purchase and consume much more integration services in the next five years.