ETA Ascon Star Group Saves 18 Million Dirhams with Ariba

ETA Ascon Star Group Saves 18 Million Dirhams with Ariba

Ariba, Inc. (NASDAQ: ARBA), the leading spend management solutions provider, today announced that, along with ETA Star Portal LLC, it has helped the ETA Ascon Star Group, a Dubai-based diversified company, drive over 18 million dirhams ($4.9 million dollars) in savings across its operations. An early adopter of Ariba® Sourcing™ On-Demand, ETA has successfully leveraged the solution to standardize its sourcing process, aggregate its spend and deliver fast, measurable results by sourcing more than 200 million dirhams ($55 million dollars) in spend in various categories.

July 25, 2009 12:00 by Aarti Nagraj

Dubai-based companies leverage Ariba’s on-demand solutions to standardize sourcing and quickly deliver results

Ariba, Inc. (NASDAQ: ARBA), the leading spend management solutions provider, today announced that, along with ETA Star Portal LLC, it has helped the ETA Ascon Star Group, a Dubai-based diversified company, drive over 18 million dirhams ($4.9 million dollars) in savings across its operations. An early adopter of Ariba^® Sourcing^™ On-Demand, ETA has successfully leveraged the solution to standardize its sourcing process, aggregate its spend and deliver fast, measurable results by sourcing more than 200 million dirhams ($55 million dollars) in spend in various categories.

Based on its success with Ariba Sourcing, ETA Group has entered into a separate agreement through its group company Star Portal LLC to become Ariba’s partner to sell Ariba^® Spend Management^™ solutions within the Middle East.

“To remain competitive in today’s economy, companies must find opportunities for cost reductions and quickly convert them into hard-dollar savings,” said Arif B. Rahman, Group Director, Finance & Member of the Board of ETA Ascon Star Group. “Within a few weeks of implementing Ariba’s on-demand sourcing solution, we were able to drive significant savings across our operations as well as process improvements that have increased our productivity.”

A robust and flexible offering, Ariba Sourcing On-Demand combines the technology, expertise and services needed to create effective markets for a wide range of direct materials and indirect goods and services with best practice processes that companies can implement to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of their procurement operations and create value across their entire organization. Delivered as a hosted solution, Ariba Sourcing On-Demand requires no investments in special hardware and can be quickly and cost-effectively implemented across locations and geographies.

“The current state of the global economy has pushed every organization to take a close look at their spend and take action to effectively control it,” said Ravindra Sharma, General Manager & Group Director, Middle East & India, Ariba. “ETA recognized early on that spend management was the fastest, most efficient way to do this and by implementing Ariba’s on-demand solutions has been quickly able to deliver results that are not only measurable, but sustainable over the long haul.”

“We are always striving to find solutions that will help our customers gain a distinct advantage in the highly competitive market place,” Rahman said. “Ariba provides us with industry-leading technology that we can use to increase the efficiency of the sourcing process and drive fast, measurable savings that positively impact our customers’ bottom lines.”

More than 1,000 companies around the world, including over half of the Fortune 100, use Ariba’s solutions to lower costs, minimize risk and improve competitive advantage.

For more information on Ariba’s on-demand spend management solutions and the value they deliver, visit www.ariba.com

“As the global financial crisis continues, companies must find innovative ways to manage both costs and cash,” said Daryl Rolley, Senior Vice President and General Manager, North America and Asia Pacific Operations, Ariba. “Spend management is among the fastest, most efficient ways to do this, and we are pleased that ETA Star Portal LLC is leveraging our offerings to help companies across the United Arab Emirates realize the benefits that it can provide.”

About ETA Ascon Group

ETA ASCON Group established 35 years ago is primarily an engineering & construction firm in the U.A.E. with expertise ranging from Civil Construction to Electro Mechanical, Elevator Engineering and Facilities Management. Since its inception in 1973, the firm has completed projects in Billions and numerous landmarks in the Emirates stand testimony to the firm’s engineering capabilities. The company is a part of Al Ghurair Investment, who are the most revered and leading business house in the United Arab Emirates. For more information, visit www.etaascon.com

Star Portal LLC

Star Portal LLC is a subsidiary of the $5 billion ETA Ascon Star Group. Incorporated in 2001, Star Portal LLC is an e-business solutions company offering varied web-based development services from e-commerce enabled solutions, content management solutions, e-sourcing and spend management solutions. For more information, visit www.starportal.com

About Ariba, Inc.

Ariba, Inc. is the leading provider of on-demand spend management solutions. Our mission is to transform the way companies of all sizes, across all industries, and geographies operate by delivering software, service, and network solutions that enable them to holistically source, contract, procure, pay, manage, and analyze their spend and supplier relationships. Delivered on demand, our enterprise-class offerings empower companies to achieve greater control of their spend and drive continuous improvements in financial and supply chain performance. More than 1,000 companies, including more than half of the companies on the Fortune 500, use Ariba solutions to manage their spend from sourcing and orders through invoicing and payment. For more information, visit www.ariba.com

Ariba, the Ariba logo, AribaLIVE, SupplyWatch, Ariba.com, Ariba.com Network and Ariba Spend Management. Find it. Get it. Keep it. are registered trademarks of Ariba, Inc. Ariba Spend Management, Ariba. This is Spend Management, Ariba Solutions Delivery, Ariba Analysis, Ariba Buyer, Ariba Category Management, Ariba Category Procurement, Ariba Contract Compliance, Ariba Contracts, Ariba Contract Management, Ariba Contract Workbench, Ariba Data Enrichment, Ariba eForms, Ariba Invoice, Ariba Payment, Ariba Sourcing, Ariba Spend Visibility, Ariba Travel and Expense, Ariba Procure-to-Pay, Ariba Workforce, Ariba Supplier Network, Ariba Supplier Connectivity, Ariba Supplier Performance Management, Ariba Content Procurement, Ariba PunchOut, Ariba QuickSource, PO-Flip, Ariba Spend Management Knowledge Base, Ariba Ready, Ariba Supply Lines, Ariba Supply Manager, Ariba LIVE, It’s Time for Spend Management and Supplier Lifecycle Management are trademarks or service marks of Ariba, Inc. All other brand or product names may be trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective companies or organizations in the United States and/or other countries.

Ariba Safe Harbor

Safe Harbor Statement under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act 1995: Information and announcements in this release involve Ariba's expectations, beliefs, hopes, plans, intentions or strategies regarding the future and are forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. All forward-looking statements included in this release are based upon information available to Ariba as of the date of the release, and we assume no obligation to update any such forward-looking statements. These statements are not guarantees of future performance and actual results could differ materially from our current expectations. Factors that could cause or contribute to Ariba's operating and financial results to differ materially from current expectations include, but are not limited to: the impact of the credit crises on Ariba’s results of operations and financial condition; delays in development or shipment of new versions of Ariba's products and services; lack of market acceptance of Ariba's existing or future products or services; inability to continue to develop competitive new products and services on a timely basis; introduction of new products or services by major competitors; the ability to attract and retain qualified employees; difficulties in assimilating acquired companies, long and unpredictable sales cycles and the deferrals of anticipated orders; declining economic conditions, including the impact of a recession; inability to control costs; changes in the company's pricing or compensation policies; significant fluctuations in our stock price; the outcome of and costs associated with pending or potential future regulatory or legal proceedings; the impact of our acquisitions, including the disruption or loss of customer, business partner, supplier or employee relationships; and the level of costs and expenses incurred by Ariba as a result of such transactions. Factors and risks associated with its business, including a number of the factors and risks described above, are discussed in Ariba's Form 10-Q filed with the SEC on May 6, 2009.

Media Contact:

Karen Master
Ariba
(412) 297-8177
kmaster@ariba.com

Tarun Mittal
Ariba
+91.124.413.5508
tmittal@ariba.com

Deepak Ramesh
Star Portal LLC
+971.55.9760015
dr@starportal.com