Tuesday December 7, 8:30 am Eastern Time
Company Press Release
SOURCE: American Management Systems
AMS and Ariba Partner to Provide First
Comprehensive Government-to-Business E-Commerce
Solutions
Partnership Brings the Ariba Global eCommerce Platform to All Areas of Government
FAIRFAX, Va. and MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif., Dec. 7 /PRNewswire/ -- In the first major venture into the rapidly emerging
government-to-business (G2B) marketplace, American Management Systems (Nasdaq: AMSY - news), and Ariba, Inc.
(Nasdaq: ARBA - news), today announced a strategic partnership to provide the industry's only comprehensive set of
government-to-business eCommerce solutions. AMS, a leading consulting and systems integrator for the public sector, and
Ariba, the leader in business-to-business eCommerce solutions, aim to deliver Internet market efficiencies, cost-savings, and
other eCommerce benefits to federal, state, and local governments in the U.S.
The partnership addresses the growing needs of government to increase operating efficiencies by consolidating purchasing with
suppliers and leveraging the combined purchasing power of hundreds of government entities through the Internet for significant
cost savings. It will also allow government agencies to leverage existing investments in procurement and financial management
solutions providing a quick migration to secure, Internet standards-based government-to-business eCommerce. According to
the Federal Procurement Data Systems, the federal government spends approximately $200 billion annually through the
General Services Administration alone to buy goods and services.
Under the terms of the agreement, AMS will market, resell, and implement Ariba® eCommerce services and software. The
two companies plan to integrate the Ariba solution into existing AMS federal customer installations. AMS will enhance the
Ariba solution to support public sector procurement practices, interoperate with existing government financial and procurement
systems, and incorporate government-specific contracts and suppliers. AMS and Ariba will also identify new
government-specific value-added services for the Ariba Network platform, such as government bid/quote services.
Also as part of the partnership, AMS will launch Buysense.com for the state and local government market. Based on the Ariba
Network platform and the Internet-hosted Ariba ORMX(TM) application, Buysense.com, an AMS-hosted web site, will be
the first scalable, multi-jurisdictional, Web-based marketplace that will allow state and local governments to cooperatively
leverage their buying power, without having to make significant IT infrastructure investments.
In addition, AMS will also become a user of the Ariba Network and Ariba ORMS solution to manage commerce processes
and transactions with its own suppliers.
AMS is the leading provider of financial and procurement solutions to the public sector through work with the Department of
Defense, 65 federal civilian agencies, bureaus and departments, and more than 300 state and local governments. More than
$100 billion of funds budgeted to federal agencies are managed by AMS's federal financial management systems.
''This partnership marks the first concentrated foray into the large-and largely untapped-market for government-to-business
eCommerce,'' said Tim Minahan, Research Director of eBusiness at the Aberdeen Group. ''We've seen several e-procurement
companies playing at the edges of this space, but the Ariba and AMS partnership is the first to address the public sector with a
well-defined solution set and delivery strategy that addresses the unique requirements and challenges of government
procurement. With 30 years of public sector experience, AMS has an intimate understanding of federal, state, and municipal
procurement policies and procedures--not to mention a large public sector installed base. Ariba compliments these attributes
with a robust e-procurement solution and a rapidly expanding eCommerce trading network. Together these companies have the
potential to enable the public sector to achieve many of the same benefits that Internet-based commerce has already delivered
to leading companies in the private sector.''
''Many of the same business-to-business eCommerce principles that help businesses cut costs are directly applicable in the
public sector,'' said Keith Krach, president and CEO at Ariba. ''Government agencies as well as businesses can continue to
become more efficient by consolidating purchasing for greater buying power and taking advantage of Internet-based supplier
integration for greater process efficiencies. Our partnership with AMS will further extend the benefits of the Internet and
eCommerce to government agencies, while allowing government buyers to integrate with their suppliers through the Ariba
Network platform.''
''Ariba's leadership in eCommerce for the private sector is the perfect complement to AMS' 30-year expertise in serving the
public sector and provides a true best of breed eCommerce solution,'' said Paul Brands, chairman and chief executive officer at
AMS. ''By partnering with Ariba, we are creating the first comprehensive eCommerce solution designed specifically for
government.''
Ariba eCommerce solutions allow organizations to electronically capture and direct an organization's purchases over the Web
to preferred suppliers on the Ariba Network platform. Using Ariba buyer enablement solutions, including the Ariba
ORMS(TM) eCommerce application and its hosted version, the Ariba ORMX application, individual buyers use a consistent
intranet-based user interface to obtain detailed product information on-line, quickly create purchase requests, route requests
through an organization's pre-defined approval cycle, place orders, and make electronic payments.
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