Sunnyvale, Calif.—April 11, 2012—Global business commerce network Ariba Inc. unveiled the Networked Enterprise, a new, connected way of operating that will drive the future of business commerce.
“There is a real and severe pain that exists in business today—the pain of inefficient commerce,” said Bob Calderoni, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Ariba Inc. “And it’s costing business hundreds of billions of dollars each year in missed sales opportunities, higher operating and supply chain costs and slower cash flow. And when a pain like this exists, it’s time for technological innovation and a new business model.”
At its core, the Networked Enterprise is all about relevant connections and efficient collaboration. “Businesses realize that they can no longer be competitive on their own,” Calderoni continued. “With supply chains that stretch around the globe, they are more reliant on external partners. And as a result, sharing information and coordinating processes is critical.”
Business networks provide an easy way to link and coordinate a virtual ‘extraprise’ of partners into a shared community executing improved and coordinated processes in a more informed way than in the past. And with increasing frequency, companies are tapping into them to enable a new, connected way of operating.
This shift is being driven and accelerated by trends like cloud computing, mobility and the convergence of enterprise applications, social media and communities. Additionally, consumers use networks such as Facebook, Twitter and Google to make their lives easier.
“When shopping on Amazon, you don’t worry about connecting to each individual merchant,” said Calderoni. “When it comes time to pay, you don’t worry about integrating into each individual bank or credit card company. It’s all done for you within the network. Whether you’re buying a book or a blender, you get the same simple shopping experience. It’s all transparent and easy for the end user.”
Now, businesses are demanding the same experience. “Companies are looking beyond the traditional view of IT to extend their procurement, sales, and finance processes and systems outside their four walls,” Calderoni added. “They want to discover, connect and collaborate more efficiently with their trading partners and they want to do it all as easily as they do in their personal lives.”
By combining cloud-based applications for collaborative commerce with the Ariba Network, Ariba enables companies to do just this—anywhere, at any time from any device.
“Just as Facebook is the destination for people looking to more efficiently manage their personal networks and activities, Ariba is the destination for businesses looking to better manage their trading relationships and commerce activities,” said Calderoni. “And like Facebook, we are always innovating, continually striving to make it easier for more buyers and more sellers to share, manage information and collaborate.”
A decade ago, there was serious debate about the viability of the Internet as a channel for business – or even a tool to power it. “Today, it is clearly a driving force of productivity and profitability,” Calderoni said. “Through our easy-to-implement and use collaborative commerce applications, web-based trading community and unique capabilities, we will continue to help companies unleash the power of their business networks and drive future growth, profitability and differentiation across their businesses,” he concluded.
The Ariba Network business trading community is used by companies around the world to transact more than $300 billion on an annual basis.
