B2B exchange platform Ariba has signed four new partners to its Commerce
Services Network (CSN), bringing its customer acquisitions to over 100
suppliers in six months and perhaps even signalling a consolidation of
faith in the trade platform.
The addition of American Express, eSign Australia, Mastercard and QSI
Payments to the network is expected to propel Ariba further towards its
goal of providing businesses in the region with a full spectrum of
eCommerce services.
Ariba’s CSN allows businesses to locate, connect and trade with each other
through a global network for B2B commerce and collaboration, enabling
enterprises to transact with their suppliers and extend marketplace reach
to new buyers and suppliers.
The CSN is also Ariba’s network infrastructure for delivering commerce
services such as directory and registration, transaction management,
catalogue, content delivery and discovery, financial, sourcing and
logistics services to companies in the B2B ecosystem.
The Ariba CSN underlines the key principle of B2B e-commerce by aiming to
lower the cost at the same time as increasing the value of transactions.
The announcement comes at the same time as rivals corProcure, a B2B venture
including Coles Myer, Foster’s Brewing Group and AMP, have announced their
intention to go live in April, adding to the challenge put forward by
fellow competitors Cyberlynx, another B2B venture this time supported by
the Commonwealth Bank, Woolworths, Lion Nathan and others.
Online marketplaces have been met with growing scepticism from e-commerce
analyst group such as The Gartner Group and Forrester Research, who have
cited problems flimsy business models, incompatible platforms, lack of
incentive and cost as barriers to uptake. Their point has been proven as
several models in the US have collapsed in the past few months.
However, the four new Ariba customers mean that over 100 suppliers from
diverse industry and commodities sectors such as office products and
consumables, safety equipment, industrial supplies, maintenance and spares
and electrical products have joined the Ariba Commerce Services Network in
Australia since June 2000. Globally, over 30,000 selling organisations are
accessible on the Ariba CSN.
“Our target is to reach 150 suppliers by March 2001,” said Ariba Australia
and New Zealand’s CEO Allan Smith. “Through our supplier enablement
programme and our ‘zero cost to suppliers’ approach, Ariba will continue to
attract a critical mass of suppliers to the Ariba CSN, benefiting all
customers,” he said.
Ariba hopes that by linking its CSN with service providers such as American
Express, eSign Australia Limited, Mastercard and QSI Payments, the exchange
will be able to streamline the integration of those services into
transactions generated by both Ariba and non-Ariba applications.
Ariba’s chairman and CEO Keith Krach said the alliance with the four new
service providers meant that Ariba customers could now deploy the range of
commerce services required to complete the a range of business
transactions. “Together, through the tight integration between our
respective solutions, we represent a combined value proposition to
Australian businesses,” he said.
