IBM adds native ebXML v2.0 support to WebSphere v6.1!

IBM announced yesterday that it has released v6.1 of WebSphere and top of the list of new features are all ebXML!

The IBM developer site notes on the new release headline these "Whats New" features:

• ebXML Messaging Service (ebMS) 2.0 used in Canada, Europe, and Asia, and in healthcare and auto industries, and support for the ebMS 2.0 Basic Profile
  
• ebMS 2.0 XML Encryption Profile, designed to test message-based encryption. The technical details of this profile are based on requirements and methods originally defined by the CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention), which uses ebMS in its Public Health Information Network applications
  
• ebMS 2.0 Automotive Retail Profile, based upon requirements and recommendations from the STAR consortium (Standards for Technology in Automotive Retail), which includes testing of gzip-based compression
  
• ebXML Collaboration Protocol Profile and Agreement (CPPA), which supports the import of CPPAs to automate the exchange and implementation of structured trading partner agreements

They have also made enhancements to the trading partner management and import/export - presumably to support the use of CPA profiles.

Overall this looks like a very significant release with enhanced B2B capabilities for messaging, transformation, business process and more and that is likely to accelerate customers migration to the V6.1 release and provide them with ability to exploit ebXML.