News from the Wire

Ariba delivers next generation business commerce platform

Friday, April 13, 2012 — 12:43:22 (EDT)

Las Vegas, April 12, 2012 -- Why is personal commerce so easy? Because you don’t have to think about it. It’s all done for you. You don’t need to struggle with complicated buying or selling processes. It’s simplified into a single, intuitive cloud-based experience that can be accessed from any device, anywhere in the world. Business commerce is about to become just as simple. With the release of its latest collaborative commerce platform, Ariba, Inc. (Nasdaq: ARBA), the world’s business commerce network, will deliver a next-generation experience that will make buying and selling goods and services in the business world as efficient and effective as it is in the consumer realm.

“The rapid convergence of cloud computing, mobility and social networks have completely changed user expectations and created an entirely new set of demands for enterprise applications,” said Bhaskar Himatsingka, Chief Technology Officer, Ariba. “With the release of our latest collaborative commerce platform, Ariba can deliver on them.”

In the consumer world, you can access networks, like Amazon.com, Facebook, and your personal bank to buy a book, collaborate with your friends, or manage your personal finances. These networks personalize your experience and put everything you need at your fingertips. Through enhancements to both the Ariba® Network and its market-leading, cloud-based collaborative commerce applications, Ariba will do the same for corporate buying and selling organizations.

Better Buying

Leveraging functionality embedded in Ariba® Procure-to-Pay™, buying organizations today are able to create and deploy easy-to-search and access catalogs through which employees across functions, divisions and geographies can find the goods and services they need and purchase them in compliance with preferred vendor agreements, contracted prices and buying policies – all in as little as four weeks.

The latest release of the application features a totally new, intuitive, consumer-like buying interface that gives requisitioners real-time access to the information they need to make informed, accurate and compliant buying decisions, including:

• Consumerized catalog and search capabilities
• Guided product comparison tools
• Multi-faceted buying procedures to enable requisitioning and collaboration for all goods and services
• Real-time budget tracking and reporting
• Visual workflow

“The user experience looks and feels very much like Amazon.com,” said Dana Gardner, principal analyst, Interarbor Solutions. “But it’s clearly more than just a slick interface. The new catalog search and comparison capabilities certainly make it easier for buyers to find precisely the products they’re looking for, and also secure the best deals available. But the larger value comes with the budget monitoring and visual workflow features which allow all permissioned stakeholders to see where requests stand, and to be able to adjust processes on the fly to suit dynamic business needs. What's more, the expanded set of tools helps drive compliance with specific corporate purchasing policies.”

Better Selling

The ability to efficiently discover, connect, and collaborate with customers is paramount to success in today’s fast-paced, global business environment. As the world’s largest web-based trading community, Ariba enables sales, fulfillment, and accounts receivable (AR) organizations to uncover new business opportunities, streamline order management and invoicing processes, and accelerate payment and financing with existing and potential customers in a scalable, cost-effective, and fully automated way.

“The upcoming Seller Collaboration Console will make it easier for MarkMaster to collaborate with our customers and provide my team with the visibility they need to understand our engagement with customers across the entire market-to-cash cycle,” said Kevin Govin, CEO, MarkMaster. “It addresses a problem that point solutions do not address for small companies like ours. It gives me one central location to manage the information I provide to and receive from customers, in a consumer-like interface.”

Using the console, selling organizations like MarkMaster can eliminate these barriers and manage the full order-to-cash process across all of their customers on the Ariba Network through a single, intuitive interface in a coordinated manner leveraging tools such as:

• Single sign-on console to receive new leads, manage quotes, streamline orders and invoices, and collaborate with customers and other Ariba Network and community members

• Consolidated and synchronized profile and catalog management, allowing sellers to manage their content once and syndicate to multiple customers

• Advanced receivables and discount management

• Single-click navigation and management of all commercial processes and relationships

• Lead generation and management with the largest community of Global 2000 buying organizations

“Managing customers with multiple point solutions has been a significant inhibitor to the adoption of collaborative business commerce,” said Cara Balint, eCommerce Client Operations Manager at Insight--a leading provider of brand-name IT hardware, software, and services. “The Seller Collaboration Console makes it easy for us to obtain leads and collaborate with multiple customers through the RFP and supplier selection process, catalogs and orders, and invoice and payment. And the centrally-managed Ariba Cloud Profile will help ensure that my supplier profile is accurate and complete and that I can better manage the way our brand is represented.”

Better Commerce

Over the last decade, companies have spent billions on technology to make business commerce easier. Yet it remains complex and inefficient. The release of Ariba’s latest platform represents a step change in the industry.

“Through increased integration of enterprise frameworks and networking technologies in its 12 series release, Ariba is providing buyers and sellers more opportunities to collaborate and streamline business processes that can lead to better commerce,” said Constantine Limberakis, Senior Research Analyst, Global Supply Management, Aberdeen Group.

Availability

The latest version of Ariba’s cloud-based collaborative commerce platform will be released this summer. To learn more about the platform and the value it can deliver, visit www.ariba.com .

About Ariba, Inc.

Ariba, Inc. is the world’s business commerce network. Ariba combines industry-leading cloud-based applications with the world's largest web-based trading community to help companies discover and collaborate with a global network of partners. Using the Ariba® Network, businesses of all sizes can connect to their trading partners anywhere, at any time from any application or device to buy, sell and manage their cash more efficiently and effectively than ever before. Companies around the world use the Ariba Network to simplify inter-enterprise commerce and enhance the results that they deliver. Join them at: www.ariba.com .

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Source: Company press release.