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Rotterdam, The Netherlands - August 31, 2008 - Covast today announced the general availability of its ebXML Messaging Service Adapter for BizTalk Server. The Covast ebXML Messaging Service Adapter will allow current and future BizTalk Server customers to conduct B2B transactions using the global ebXML standard.

With a growing presence in the B2B industry, ebXML (Electronic Business using eXtensible Markup Language) offers more standardized and secure communications across the internet than traditional XML-based communications. For this reason, ebXML has become the standard of choice for many government organizations, as well as organizations in the manufacturing and energy sector.

Today, BizTalk Server does not currently support the ebXML standard. The Covast ebXML Messaging Service Adapter will give BizTalk Server users the ability to easily conduct B2B communications using this standard.

"The Covast ebXML Messaging Service Adapter will bring ebXML capabilities to BizTalk Server customers. Covast's work on this technology is an excellent example of how Microsoft partners play an instrumental role in ensuring BizTalk Server remains the most widely-used B2B integration platform in the world," said Dan Alling, Sr. Product Manager - Business Development, Microsoft Corp.

Covast has been Microsoft's goto partner for specialist B2B functionalities for 7 years and is the natural Microsoft Gold Certified partner to extend ebXML capabilities to BizTalk Server. Several organizations are successfully piloting the new technology in advance of its general availability release in September 2008.

"A growing number of companies in critical industries like government and manufacturing are demanding a more secure alternative to XML-based communication. The Covast ebXML Messaging Service Adapter gives them just that - the security of ebXML within the reliability and scalability of the BizTalk Server environment," said Daan Scheer, CEO, Covast.

To learn more about the Covast ebXML Messaging Service Adapter, please visit www.covast.com.

About Covast

Covast, a leading provider of business-to-business integration solutions, is revolutionizing supply chain integration through the world's first B2B integration appliance - the Covast BBot. Requiring only a local area network with internet connection, BBot automatically enables integration between the complex B2B systems of large supply chain hubs and their smaller customers and suppliers. The result is improved visibility, compliance, efficiency and accuracy for every supply chain. Covast is a Microsoft Gold Certified Partner. Covast maintains its European headquarters in the Netherlands and its U.S. headquarters in Atlanta. For more information, visit http://www.covast.com.

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