Altran Outsources Procurement to Ariba

Leading European consulting firm taps Ariba to manage indirect spend, drive savings and operational excellence SUNNYVALE, Calif., September 18, 2006 - Ariba®, Inc. (Nasdaq: ARBA), the leading spend management solutions provider, today announced that it has been selected to provide procurement outsourcing services for Altran Group, the European leader in high technology and innovation consulting. Under the terms of a multi-year agreement, Ariba will set up a technology and service infrastructure to manage non-strategic spend for Altran in an effort to help the company drive savings and operational excellence. "At Altran, we have our sights set on becoming the world leader in innovation consulting," said Mr. Eric Albrand, Chief Financial Officer, Altran. "As such, we are taking aggressive steps to drive operational excellence. By selecting Ariba to manage our indirect spend, we can focus our efforts on reaching this goal." As part of its agreement with Altran, Ariba will manage spend across a range of indirect categories, including: office supplies, travel, IT Hardware, facilities and marketing services. Through its Managed Procurement Services organization, Ariba will drive everything from spend analysis, category sourcing, supplier negotiations and spend compliance to requisition management, invoice services, catalog and supplier enablement services, procurement help desk and application hosting. "Altran recognized early on that innovation is not only a differentiating factor, but the key to success in today’s global economy," said Shahriar Broumand, Vice President and General Manager, Ariba Managed Procurement Services. "In selecting Ariba to manage its indirect procurement, Altran has access to an innovative solution designed to help it quickly lock in significant year-over-year savings while maintaining its focus on driving its strategic objectives." About Altran Altran is the European leader in high technology and innovation consulting. The Group’s 14,000 consultants worldwide bring together the entire range of engineering and consulting fields: electronics, information technology, quality and organization. They assist corporations throughout their innovation process, ranging from technological monitoring, applied fundamental research, preparation for production, right through to manufacturing processes and information services, serving most business sectors: automotive, aeronautics, space, telecommunications. Founded in 1982, Altran is present in 20 countries. Altran had a turnover of €1,430 million in 2005. For more information, please visit: www.altran.com.

Source : Ariba