Ariba & Descartes SystemsGroup enter B2B alliance

By Staff -- Industrial Distribution, 8/1/2000

Mountain view, calif.-Ariba, Inc. and the Descartes Systems Group Inc. will link buyers, suppliers, and B2B marketplaces on Ariba's B2B Commerce PlatformTM with transportation carriers, shippers and logistics providers connected to the Descartes Global Logistics Network.

Integrating the two B2B infrastructures will help improve the ability of buyers, suppliers and B2B marketplaces to manage the full cycle of commercial transactions, the companies say. That involves ordering merchandise, triggering and processing payments to delivering the goods, which should increase users' ability to better serve their customers.

Under the agreement, Ariba will deliver a suite of new Web-hosted services through its Commerce Services NetworkTM. Participants will have access to a variety of logistics and fulfillment services that they can integrate into the transaction process.

Those services will include global visibility of order status, exception-based performance monitoring, total shipment cost calculation, delivery optimization, and Internet-based transportation management.