Whois & Analysis for ariba.com

SAP Ariba is an American software and information technology services company located in Palo Alto, California.

It was acquired by German software maker SAP SE for $4.3 billion in 2012.

Spend analysis is the process of collecting, cleansing, classifying and analyzing expenditure data with the purpose of decreasing procurement costs, improving efficiency, and monitoring compliance.

It can also be leveraged in other areas of business such as inventory management, budgeting and planning, and product development.

In commerce, supply chain management (SCM), the management of the flow of goods and services, involves the movement and storage of raw materials, of work-in-process inventory, and of finished goods from point of origin to point of consumption.

Interconnected or interlinked networks, channels and node businesses combine in the provision of products and services required by end customers in a supply chain.

Supply-chain management has been defined as the "design, planning, execution, control, and monitoring of supply chain activities with the objective of creating net value, building a competitive infrastructure, leveraging worldwide logistics, synchronizing supply with demand and measuring performance globally.".

Contract management or contract administration is the management of contracts made with customers, vendors, partners, or employees.

The personnel involved in contract administration required to negotiate, support and manage effective contracts are often expensive to train and retain.

Contract management includes negotiating the terms and conditions in contracts and ensuring compliance with the terms and conditions, as well as documenting and agreeing on any changes or amendments that may arise during its implementation or execution.

It can be summarized as the process of systematically and efficiently managing contract creation, execution, and analysis for the purpose of maximizing financial and operational performance and minimizing risk.

Procurement software is business software that helps to automate the purchasing function of organizations.

Activities including raising and approving purchase orders, selecting and ordering the product or service, receiving and matching the invoice and order, and paying the bill is handled electronically, enabling the procurement department to see everything that is ordered, ensure that nothing can be ordered without correct approvals, and lets them get the best value by combining several orders for the same type of good or even getting suppliers to bid for the business.

Buying organisation's choice can be driven by the particular strengths offered by each individual system and the number of vendors available through them.

A multinational or otherwise large organization will use a shared procurement system to take advantage of economies of scale to drive down the cost of purchases.

While traditionally most e-procurement software systems have been designed for larger organizations, there are now also systems available for the SMB market, such as the Free-Procurement Project by SpendMap and an open source alternative by ProcuMan.

Whilst some services are available to purchase through automated systems, the key strength of these systems lies in the procurement of commodities that are much easier to standardise.