Computacenter Fuels Collaboration and Growth with Ariba

Buying consumer goods online is simple. You type in a few key words, scan your options, compare features and prices and make a selection. With a few more clicks, you pay for and arrange to have things delivered. With the help of Ariba, Inc. (Nasdaq: ARBA), the world’s business commerce network, Computacenter, Europe’s leading independent provider of IT infrastructure services, is making business commerce just as easy – and boosting its sales in the process.

“As a business you can no longer offer a B2B experience. It needs to be level with a B2C experience,” said Sam Purches, Principal e-Business Development Consultant, Computacenter. “With Ariba, we have created a simplified buying process that enables our customers to quickly find and purchase the goods and services they need much as they would using Amazon.com or eBay.”

As Europe’s leading independent provider of IT infrastructure services, Computacenter offers a range of networking and collaboration solutions, delivering on-site services in nearly 60 countries and supplying IT hardware and software in more than 100 countries. “With increasing frequency, our customers were demanding greater automation across the purchasing process, and we wanted to make sure that our website addressed these needs,” Purches said.

So the company tapped into the Ariba® Network and the online catalog and eInvoicing solutions delivered on it to create Computacenter Connect, a consumer-like webshop where its customers can quickly find and purchase the goods and services they need to power their operations.

“Our customers are very happy because through the site, they can drive a standard, automated process for purchasing that delivers cost savings and fuels compliance,” Purches said.

And Computacenter is happy because since launching the site, it has seen a significant boost in both productivity and profits. Used to transact over $160 million in revenue on an annual basis, the Ariba Network is Computacenter’s largest eCommerce platform and accounts for about 10 percent of its overall sales.

More than 65 percent of Computacenter’s orders are now made electronically through Computacenter Connect, freeing up sales associates to focus on more strategic activities such as customer satisfaction and retention. On average, these orders are about 12 percent higher than those made offline, driving greater revenue.

As the majority of Computacenter’s orders are now invoiced electronically using the eInvoicing solutions delivered via the Ariba Network, the company has also been able to streamline its accounts payable process and speed payment cycles.

“The ability to efficiently discover, connect, and collaborate with customers is paramount to success in today’s fast-paced, global business environment,” said Jason Kurtz, Vice President, Ariba Network and Financial Solutions. “As the world’s largest web-based trading community, Ariba provides innovative selling organizations like Computacenter with a robust platform through which they can uncover new business opportunities, streamline order management and invoicing processes, and accelerate payment with existing and potential customers in a scalable, cost-effective, and fully automated way.”

With more than 730,000 participants, the Ariba Network is the largest transacting network in the world with:

• Over 500,000 global, enabled suppliers

• More than 23 million POs processed annually

• Over 11.5 million invoices processed annually

• $319 billion in total annual spend

• Transactions in 130 countries and 70 currencies

To learn more about the Ariba Network and the value it can deliver to your organization, visit: http://www.ariba.com/supplier/suppliernetwork/

About Computacenter:

As Europe’s leading independent provider of IT infrastructure services, Computacenter offers a range of networking and collaboration solutions, delivering on-site services in nearly 60 countries and supplying IT hardware and software in more than 100 countries. The company advises customers on their IT strategy, implements the most appropriate technology from a wide range of leading vendors, and manages technology infrastructures on its customers’ behalf, making their businesses sharper at every stage by removing cost, complexity, and barriers to change.

About Ariba, Inc.

Ariba, Inc. is the world’s business commerce network. Ariba combines industry-leading cloud-based applications with the world's largest web-based trading community to help companies discover and collaborate with a global network of partners. Using the Ariba® Network, businesses of all sizes can connect to their trading partners anywhere, at any time from any application or device to buy, sell and manage their cash more efficiently and effectively than ever before. Companies around the world use the Ariba Network to simplify inter-enterprise commerce and enhance the results that they deliver. Join them at: www.ariba.com

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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 impact of any acquisitions, including difficulties with the integration process or the realization of benefits of a transaction; the impact of our disposition, including the potential disruption of our ongoing business; the ability to attract and retain qualified employees; 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 and dispositions, 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 4, 2012.