I got an email from Chris Blake of Ariba and he informed me about one of their new deals.

The deal is with Fortune 500 company First American Corporation, America's largest provider of business information. The company has adopted Ariba's on-demand procurement solution. For a 117 year-old business like First American to go on-demand with spend management is a sign that even large enterprises are opting for on-demand solutions over licensed software to more quickly drive deep process controls and efficiencies to lower costs and lift the bottom line.

As you know, the financial pressures of globalization, regulatory compliance and inflation are making it increasingly difficult for multi-national enterprises to compete and maintain a profitable business model. Spend management helps them overcome these issues while improving cost structure and profitability. It's not just about automating the procurement process anymore - it's about applying procurement science to every dollar of spend to lower total costs. Unless a business wants to leave money on the table, it has to combine technology, commodity expertise, services and easy access to a global supply base. Ariba is the only company to combine all of this with the single largest supplier network in the world. And by going on-demand, these companies can quickly and cost-effectively close the procurement loop and realize returns on their investment.