Fujitsu, Hitachi, NEC and Oracle Showcase Reliable Web Services

Tokyo, September 5, 2003 -- Fujitsu Limited, Hitachi, Ltd., NEC Corp. and Oracle Corp. today announced that they have successfully demonstrated interoperability between four independent implementations of reliable Web services based on the Web Services-Reliability (WS-Reliability) specification, which the companies jointly submitted to the Organization for the Advancement of Structured Information Standards (OASIS) in January. The WS-Reliability specification defines an open reliable messaging infrastructure that enables companies to conduct reliable business-to-business trading or collaboration using Web services. This demonstration is the first deliverable of an ongoing Proof-of-Concept (POC) activity for the Web Services-Reliability specification. The OASIS Web Services Reliable Messaging (WS-RM) Technical Committee members plan to update their implementations to accommodate the upcoming release of the next version of the specification, already under development by the committee.

The interoperability demonstration was conducted during the latest WS-RM Technical Committee meeting in Bedford, Massachusetts, on September 4, 2003. The WS-Reliability specification enabled the four Web service applications used in the POC demonstration to reliably exchange messages over an unreliable network test bed that simulates message loss, duplication and delays. The network test bed will be used by the group for future WS-Reliability interoperability tests. Additional supporters of WS-Reliability are expected to participate in future POC demonstrations.

This demonstration highlighted two functions of the WS-Reliability specification. The first one was "Guaranteed Delivery" in which the sender will automatically resend the same message if no positive acknowledgement was received, and the other was "Duplicate Elimination" in which the receiving application eliminates duplicates of the same message. These two functions greatly improve the reliability and efficiency of business applications, by preventing message loss and duplication. This will allow, for example, buyers to ensure that Purchase Order messages are successfully delivered to their suppliers, and prevent suppliers from receiving duplicate orders due to network routing problems.

In addition to guaranteed delivery and duplicate elimination, the OASIS WS-Reliability specification also addresses message delivery management, including message persistence, ordered delivery, and delivery status notifications for sending and receiving applications.

About Fujitsu
Fujitsu is a leading provider of customer-focused IT and communications solutions for the global marketplace. Pace-setting technologies, highly reliable computing and telecommunications platforms, and a worldwide corps of systems and services experts uniquely position Fujitsu to deliver comprehensive solutions that open up infinite possibilities for its customers' success. Headquartered in Tokyo, Fujitsu Limited (TSE:6702) reported consolidated revenues of 4.6 trillion yen (US$38 billion) for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2003. For more information, please see : http://www.fujitsu.com/.

About Hitachi, Ltd.
Hitachi, Ltd. (NYSE: HIT), headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, is a leading global electronics company, with approximately 340,000 employees worldwide. Fiscal 2002 (ended March 31, 2003) consolidated sales totaled 8,191.7 billion yen ($68.3 billion). The company offers a wide range of systems, products and services in market sectors, including information systems, electronic devices, power and industrial systems, consumer products, materials and financial services. For more information on Hitachi, please visit the company's Web site at http://www.hitachi.com.

About NEC
NEC is one of the world's leading providers of Internet, broadband network and enterprise business solutions dedicated to meeting the specialized needs of its diverse and global base of customers. Ranked as one of the world's top patent-producing companies, NEC delivers tailored solutions in the key fields of computer, networking and electron devices, by integrating its technical strengths in IT and Networks, and by providing advanced semiconductor solutions through NEC Electronics Corporation. The NEC Group employs more than 140,000 people worldwide and had net sales of approximately $40 billion in the fiscal year that ended March 2003. For additional information, please visit the NEC home page at: http://www.nec.com.

About Oracle
Oracle is the world's largest enterprise software company. For more information about Oracle, visit our Web site at http://www.oracle.com.

Press Contacts

All company/product names mentioned may be trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective holders and are used for identification purpose only.
Please understand that product prices, specifications and other details are current on the day of issue of the press release, however, may change thereafter without notice.