"IBM today announced its contribution of a cornerstone technology to the Apache Software Foundation, which will help developers create applications for e-business services using a vendor-neutral, open process."

"IBM is contributing its Simple Object Access Protocol (SOAP) technology, built in Java, to the Apache's open source XML (Extensible Markup Language) project. IBM and Lotus are co-authors of the SOAP v1.1 specification, which defines a simple, Internet-friendly way of using XML to send messages and access dynamic Web services across distributed networks. Web services are business services conducted via the Web, such as Internet-based shipping and delivery."

"IBM's SOAP4J, now available on the Apache Web site (http://xml.apache.org), is the industry's first implementation of SOAP v1.1. This IBM technology enables applications to process SOAP messages such as an electronic invoice or purchase order. Since it was posted on IBM's alphaWorks (http://www.alphaWorks.ibm.com) last month, SOAP4J has been downloaded more than 6,000 times."

Press Release.