Glenn: What do I know about ARBA? I know that no should alive can tell you, me or anybody here with any degree of certainty that ARBA will ever live up to expectations that are -- by any standard -- "lofty". I know it is down 25% this week, in part due to losing one lousy customer -- an indication of how incredibly nervous the market is about the real degree of risk that the stock is over-valued -- to put it mildly. I have not been a buyer of their products --at least not yet. have not demo-ed their products. I have not done a survey of users of their product. I have not done any extensive research on the competitive dynamics of all competitors or all competing products -- I only know what I read:
Ariba, Inc.
NASD : ARBA
Sector: Technology
Industry: Software & Programming
Ariba Inc. is a provider of Internet-based business-to-business electronic commerce solutions for operating resources. The Ariba Network is a single global business-to-business electronic commerce network that enables buyers and suppliers to automate business transactions on the Internet. Its Operating Resource Management System, the Ariba ORMS application, enables organizations to automate the procurement cycle within their intranets, internal computer networks which are based on the Internet protocol, lowering the costs associated with operating resources and other materials. Since the Company began marketing the Ariba platform, it has been licensed by large, multinational industry leaders and public sector organizations including Andersen Consulting, Cisco Systems, Federal Express Corporation, Hewlett-Packard, Philips, U S WEST and Visa, among others. Ariba was incorporated in September 1996.
In November 1999, the Company signed a definitive agreement to acquire Trading Dynamics, Inc., a leading provider of business-to-business Internet trading applications. In December 1999, the Company signed a definitive agreement to acquire TRADEX Technologies, Inc., a leading provider of solutions for Net Markets. Both transactions were completed in early 2000.
Ariba provides a comprehensive intranet- and Internet-based business-to-business electronic commerce solution for operating resources. This solution consists of two components, Ariba ORMS and the Ariba Network. Together, Ariba ORMS and the Ariba Network combine intranet-based network applications with an Internet-based network to create a business-to-business electronic commerce platform benefiting both buyers and suppliers.
Ariba ORMS
Ariba ORMS is a robust, scalable and reliable network application that operates primarily within a buying organization's Intranet. Ariba ORMS enables organizations to reduce processing costs and improve productivity by automating the procurement cycle, linking end-users throughout the organization with approvers and financial systems. Ariba ORMS also enables organizations to reduce the cost of operating resources by channeling purchases to preferred suppliers. Ariba ORMS is designed to connect large numbers of end-users, approvers and administrative personnel through web-based applications that automate procurement and finance processes. Ariba ORMS works with multiple enterprise systems simultaneously, in addition to providing real-time electronic access to important procurement information, such as supplier product specifications, price lists, web sites and order status.
Ariba ORMS Modules
Ariba ORMS modules are designed specifically for the procurement and management of different operating resources. Each module contains powerful reporting and data analysis tools that enable operations managers to monitor the requisition process and identify areas for cost reductions. The Ariba ORMS modules are: Ariba MRO, Ariba Services, Ariba Capital Equipment, Ariba eForms, Ariba Expense Management, and Ariba P-Card.
Ariba ORMS Enterprise Adapters
Ariba ORMS enterprise adapters are designed specifically to connect to or integrate with leading finance, human resource management and enterprise resource and planning systems. Integration refers to the ability of Ariba ORMS adapters to exchange information with an organization's enterprise systems, eliminating the need for manual transfer of critical information from Ariba ORMS to these systems. Ariba ORMS enterprise adapters can integrate with standard implementations of these systems or can be configured to integrate with custom installations of the enterprise system. These adapters enable a single Ariba ORMS installation to integrate with multiple enterprise applications simultaneously.
The Ariba Network
The Ariba Network is an Internet-based corporate resource commerce network designed to provide access to large amounts of supplier product information and to enable electronic commerce transactions over the Internet. The Ariba Network bridges buyer and supplier networks on the Internet and offers electronic payment, catalog and content management, order transaction routing and multi-protocol support for numerous electronic commerce standards.
Its multi-protocol network allows buyers to send transactions from Ariba ORMS in one standard format. It then converts the order into the supplier's preferred transaction format, such as CXML (Commerce eXtensible Markup Language), a format used on the Internet to describe commerce data and documents, or EDI (Electronic Data Interchange), a format used to exchange data and documents electronically. This feature eliminates the need for a single standard for electronic commerce and gives suppliers the freedom to transact in their preferred protocols.
The Company has increasingly encountered competition with respect to different aspects of its solution from a variety of vendors including Captura Software, Clarus, Commerce One, Concur Technologies, Extensity, GE Information Services, Intelysis, Netscape Communications, a subsidiary of America Online, and TRADEX Technologies. The Company also encounters competition from several major enterprise software developers, such as Oracle, PeopleSoft and SAP. |
