The May announcement that SAP intends to acquire procurement vendor Ariba has triggered all kinds of volatility in the supply chain and procurement vendor segment. Ariba is the big player in this market, so many of its smaller brethren now see an opportunity to spread seeds of fear, uncertainty, and doubt (classic technology-based “FUD”).
Last week it was UK-based PROACTIS:
“This program is intended to make it easier for Ariba customers who do not want to become part of the SAP ecosystem to move to an ERP-neutral spend management suite that is equivalent in scope to what they have with Ariba,” said Rod Jones, PROACTIS CEO. “…We feel that many organisations will be surprised when they see the breadth and depth, flexibility, and ease of use of the PROACTIS Spend Control suite.”
This week, US-based SciQuest has launched its own offer. According to Stephen Wiehe, president and CEO of SciQuest:
“With our new Ariba migration program, customers can realize several unique benefits that our solution provides: it’s 100 percent in the cloud, there are no supplier network fees, it’s a comprehensive full-suite source-to-settle solution, and it’s all backed by top-notch customer service.”
More enticements will surely be appearing from additional e-procurement vendors such as Coupa and Basware. Some are emphasizing their lead over Ariba with respect to cloud-based solutions, while others trumpet their independence and interoperability with a multitude of major ERP vendors. Both arguments are likely to win customers worldwide.
Click here to read more about PROACTIS and here to read more about SciQuest.