Ariba plans to integrate its cloud solution, the Ariba Commerce Cloud, with IBM LotusLive to help buyers and sellers communicate and share information more fluidly and effectively, leading to faster, more confident business decisions for organizations of all sizes. The news came during Ariba LIVE, the premier conference for business professionals engaged in buying, selling or managing cash being held at the JW Marriot Grand Lakes in Orlando, Florida.

"Finding the right trading partners is hard. Collaborating with them to do business better is even harder," said Bhaskar Himatsingka, Chief Technology Officer, Ariba, Inc. "Our integration plans with IBM LotusLive are designed to help make it easier for buyers and sellers to collaborate in new ways by taking advantage of IBM's powerful set of web-based tools for real-time collaboration within Ariba's sourcing and sales process solutions."

Simplified Interactions

Face-to-face meetings, phone calls, faxes, documents and spreadsheets are quickly being leapfrogged by more advanced, efficient methods of collaboration and communication such as Web conferencing, instant messaging, social networking and file sharing, among other things. To help companies take advantage of these advances, Ariba plans to integrate IBM's LotusLive with Ariba ® Discovery™, a web-based service that helps buyers and sellers find each other quickly and efficiently for new business opportunities by automatically matching buyers' business requirements to seller capabilities.

Integrating LotusLive communication and collaboration into the buyer-seller discovery process will lead to better business results for buyers and sellers by providing them the tools to interact, answer questions and exchange accurate information prior to entering the formal RFI/P or contracting phase.

"A successful integration with IBM LotusLive would enable us to move beyond document-driven interactions with our customers and collaborate in a true sense," said Tricia Johnson, Western Regional Sales Manager, Eagle Press, and user of the Ariba Commerce Cloud.

A unique Web-based platform that enables companies to buy, sell and manage cash more efficiently and effectively than ever before, the Ariba Commerce Cloud provides companies with everything needed to manage collaborative inter-enterprise commerce, including market-leading technology, expert skills and capabilities and the world's largest global trading community.

LotusLive delivers cloud-based, integrated email, Web conferencing, social networking and collaboration services to help simplify and improve daily business interactions with customers, partners and colleagues -- all with IBM's focus on security, reliability and integration.

"Like people searching for someone special, businesses are looking for a high degree of compatibility with their prospective partners," said Sean Poulley, Vice President, IBM Cloud Collaboration. "The successful combination of LotusLive and the Ariba Commerce Cloud will provide such a matchmaking comfort zone in which networks of partners, suppliers and customers can easily work together across company boundaries to help do their jobs more efficiently and cost-effectively, and perhaps even develop lasting relationships."