Hi all,

Many of you recently participated in the customer-only Contract Management 13s1 Feature Survey.  We will be posting the compiled results of that survey shortly in the Customer Success group.  This group is private to Ariba customers only.  The 13s1 feature survey results will only be available via this group, so register as soon as possible we'll get you approved so you can view the results.  Thanks!

http://exchange.ariba.com/groups/customer-success

I just wanted to quickly share with you a great article that was just posted on the Technology Evaluation Centers blog. The author is P.J. Jakovljevic, an Industry Analyst who is recognized as an enterprise applications expert. Check out the article for his thoughts on Ariba LIVE and an assessment of the state of cloud B2B commerce today.

He captured the essence of what Ariba Discovery is all about pretty well in just a few sentences - see below. Personally, I'm excited about the concept of a commerce graph and being part of a team that is working hard to make it easier for companies to do business.

[C]ompanies can now even find new business through Ariba Discovery, a Match.com or eHarmony service of sorts for businesses that automatically matches buyers’ requirements with sellers’ capabilities. [...] The grand idea of Ariba Discovery is for B2B environments to be able to discover a new partner like we would find an old friend on Facebook (or an ex-colleague on LinkedIn), and procure or sell something as easily as buying/selling a book on Amazon or eBay. Just like we each have a social graph that maps our personal connections, companies also have commerce graphs that outline their business relationships. This is what cloud commerce is all about - leveraging the power of a network to make business commerce as easy as personal commerce. And this is the direction that things will continue to go at Ariba." - P.J. Jakovljevic, TEC Blog

Were you at Ariba LIVE this year? What do you think the future of commerce looks like? Share your thoughts in a comment.

On-board a new employee, get a refresher course, or sharpen your skills with training classes from Ariba University. Courses are delivered in Ariba offices globally and online. Here's a look at upcoming classes in the US:

Please note that all courses are subject to cancellation or change.

Pittsburgh, PA – Week of May 21^st

May 21-22: Ariba Procurement- Requisitioning to Receiving

May 23: Ariba Procurement- Implementing and Maintaining Contract Compliance

May 24-25: Ariba Procurement- Invoice and Payment

Pittsburgh, PA – Week of May 28^th

May 29: Ariba Spend Visibility- Identifying Sourcing Opportunities

May 30: Ariba Supplier Information Management- Registering and Managing Suppliers

May 31- June 1: Ariba Supplier Performance Management – Supplier Performance Projects

Alpharetta, GA – Week of May 28^th

May 31- June 1: Ariba System Administration for Upstream Solutions

Virtual Instructor Led Training – Week of May 28^th

May 29: Ariba Sourcing – Event Management

May 30: Ariba Sourcing – Project Management

May 30: Auctions using Ariba Sourcing Professional

May 31: Ariba Sourcing – Event Management Advanced Features Part I

June 1: Ariba Sourcing- Event Management Advanced Features Part 2

Alpharetta, GA – Week of June 11^th

June 13-15: Ariba Procurement – Managing and Maintaining Catalogs

Virtual Instructor Led Training– Week of June 11^th

June 11-12: Reporting for Ariba On-Demand Solutions

Virtual Instructor Led Training– Week of June 18^th

June 18-19: Ariba Procurement-  Requisitioning to Receiving

June 20: Ariba Procurement – Implementing and Maintaining Contract Compliance

June 21-22: Ariba Procurement – Invoice and Payment

Alpharetta, GA – Week of June 25^th

June 25-27: Ariba Procurement – Administration