Aviva India Selects Ariba for Spend Management

Ariba, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARBA) is expanding its stronghold in the global financial services sector. The company today announced that it has been selected to power a comprehensive spend management initiative for Aviva in India, the world’s fifth largest insurance group. Under the terms of a new agreement, Ariba will apply its technology, expertise and services to help Aviva India streamline its outsourcing process and drive savings that will positively impact its bottom line. Six of the world’s top 10 securities firms, four of the top 10 commercial banks and now four of the top ten insurance companies in India rely on solutions from Ariba to improve their profits and gain competitive advantage. "The Indian banking and financial institutions segment (BFSI) is expanding at a rapid pace, and in order to keep up and maximize our opportunities for growth, we must diligently manage our expenses,” said Mr. Abhay Johorey, Director, Transformation & Services, Aviva India. "Leveraging Ariba’s solutions and expertise, we have implemented a more efficient process for outsourcing that has improved our productivity and lowered our costs. We have implemented this recently and we have already seen a significant change in our return on investment, identifying savings in the range of eight to 32 percent across key categories such as information technology, printing, travel, training, infrastructure and transportation.” Using a combination of Ariba® Analysis™, Ariba Sourcing™, Ariba Category Management™ and Ariba Contract Workbench™, Aviva India aims to source more than $50 million (Rs.200 crores) in spend and increase its savings in the next 12 to 18 months. "Spend management is a critical business imperative that an increasing number of banking and financial service firms are embracing," said Mr. T. Sivakumar, Group Director, Ariba Asia South. "Through our industry-leading technology and spend management expertise, Aviva India can effectively manage its costs, reduce risk, drive compliance and ultimately, increase its advantage in the competitive global marketplace.” About Aviva India Aviva Life Insurance is a joint venture between Dabur and Aviva. Current paid up capital amounts to 758 crores. Dabur is the 74% shareholder and Aviva the 26% shareholder. Aviva plc is the UK’s largest insurance Group and the world’s oldest insurance Group, with a history dating back to 1696. Today, it is the fifth largest insurer worldwide, with 40 million customers and £377 billion assets under management. Prior to nationalization, Aviva was the biggest of the foreign insurers operating in the Indian market. Founded in 1884, Dabur is one of India’s oldest and largest groups of companies with the Group’s consolidated annual sales in excess of Rs 2,233 crores. A professionally managed company it is the country’s leading producer of traditional healthcare products. Aviva pioneered the concept of Bancassurance in India, and has leveraged its global expertise in this area successfully in India. Bancassurance has been contributing close to 65% of the total sales of Aviva India. Aviva’s products have been designed in a manner to provide customers flexibility, transparency and value for money. Aviva has been among the first companies to introduce Unit Linked products in the market. Aviva has a unique need based sales approach through the "Financial Health Check” (FHC). The FHC is a free service administered by our FPAs (Financial Planning Advisers) for a need-based analysis of the customer’s long-term savings and insurance needs. Depending on the life stage and earnings of the customer, the Financial Health Check assesses and recommends the right insurance product for them. About Ariba, Inc. Ariba, Inc. is the leading provider of spend management solutions to help companies realize rapid and sustainable bottom line results. Successful companies around the world in every industry use Ariba Spend Management™ software and services. Ariba can be contacted in the U.S. at 1.650.390.1000 or at www.ariba.com. Copyright © 1996 – 2008 Ariba, Inc. Ariba, the Ariba logo, AribaLIVE and SupplyWatch are registered trademarks of Ariba, Inc. Ariba Spend Management, Ariba Spend Management. Find it. Get it. Keep it., Ariba. This is Spend Management, Ariba Solutions Delivery, Ariba Analysis, Ariba Buyer, Ariba Category Management, Ariba Category Procurement, Ariba Contract Compliance, Ariba Contracts, Ariba Contract Management, Ariba Contract Workbench, Ariba Data Enrichment, Ariba eForms, Ariba Electronic Invoice Presentment and Payment, Ariba Invoice, Ariba Sourcing, Ariba Spend Visibility, Ariba Travel and Expense, Ariba Procure-to-Pay, Ariba Workforce, Ariba Supplier Network, Ariba Supplier Connectivity, Ariba Supplier Performance Management, Ariba PunchOut, Ariba QuickSource, PO-Flip, Ariba Settlement, Ariba Spend Management Knowledge Base, Ariba Ready, Ariba Supply Lines, Ariba Supply Manager, Ariba LIVE and It’s Time for Spend Management are trademarks or service marks of Ariba, Inc. All other trademarks are property of their respective owners. Ariba Safe Harbor Safe Harbor Statement under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act 1995: Information and announcements in this release involve Ariba's expectations, beliefs, hopes, plans, intentions or strategies regarding the future and are forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. All forward-looking statements included in this release are based upon information available to Ariba as of the date of the release, and we assume no obligation to update any such forward-looking statements. These statements are not guarantees of future performance and actual results could differ materially from our current expectations. Factors that could cause or contribute to Ariba's operating and financial results to differ materially from current expectations include, but are not limited to: delays in development or shipment of new versions of Ariba's products and services; lack of market acceptance of Ariba's existing or future products or services; inability to continue to develop competitive new products and services on a timely basis; introduction of new products or services by major competitors; the ability to attract and retain qualified employees; difficulties in assimilating acquired companies, including Procuri which Ariba acquired on December 17, 2007; long and unpredictable sales cycles and the deferrals of anticipated orders; declining economic conditions; inability to control costs; changes in the company's pricing or compensation policies; significant fluctuations in our stock price; the outcome of and costs associated with pending or potential future regulatory or legal proceedings; the impact of our acquisitions, including the disruption or loss of customer, business partner, supplier or employee relationships; and the level of costs and expenses incurred by Ariba as a result of such transactions. Factors and risks associated with its business, including a number of the factors and risks described above, are discussed in Ariba's Form 10-K for the year ended September 30, 2007.