Ariba Hires Former SAP Senior Vice President to Expand Enterprise Software Management Team; Paul Melchiorre to Spearhead North American Operations.

SUNNYVALE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--June 22, 1998--Ariba Technologies, Inc., the leader in enterprise Operating Resource Management Systems, today announced the appointment of Paul Melchiorre as vice president of North American operations.

As a former senior vice president of SAP America, a leader in providing enterprise resource planning systems to Global 2000 businesses, Melchiorre joins the Ariba management team with more than 20 years of experience in executive management and enterprise software solutions. Melchiorre will be responsible for both sales and services throughout North America. Rob DeSantis, Ariba's current vice president of sales and co-founder, will assume the role of vice president of international sales and will focus on expanding Ariba's global presence.

"We are extremely pleased that Paul has joined our team," said Keith Krach, CEO and president of Ariba. "Paul brings a successful track record in building enterprise software organizations. Ariba will leverage his experience as we continue to expand our global leadership in Operating Resource Management. With Paul's expertise, we will be even better positioned for explosive growth while maintaining 100 percent customer satisfaction."

Melchiorre's mission will be to maximize the business benefit that clients receive from implementing the end-to-end electronic commerce solution provided by the Ariba Operating Resource Management System(ORMS). Ariba ORMS is an integrated suite of applications that manages the acquisition of all of the goods and services companies needs to run their day-to-day business operations, including services, capital equipment, MRO supplies, travel and entertainment, and others. The solution captures economies of scale and streamlines operations delivering high value that drops directly to the bottom line.

"The addition of Paul Melchiorre to the Ariba management team is continued evidence of the company's ability to attract the very best talent in the industry," said Wendell Laidley, vice president of Deutsche Bank Technology Group. "With Paul on board, Ariba has significantly enhanced the company's infrastructure to further secure and extend its ORM market leadership and penetration among Global 2000 clients."

"Paul Melchiorre's strong sales management skills and breadth of experience will certainly prove beneficial to Ariba," said Michael DiPietro, vice president of client research at AMR. "His ability to work well at the executive level should further enhance Ariba's ability execute its business plan."

In his tenure at SAP, the world's second largest software company, Melchiorre helped grow the company from $50 million to over $3 billion in annual revenues. He was senior vice president of global accounts and was responsible for SAP America's strategic business units, including utility/telecom, automotive, aerospace and defense, high-tech, chemical/pharmaceutical, oil and gas, retail, consumer product goods, human resources, and healthcare. Prior to SAP, Melchiorre held various sales and management positions with MAI Basic and ADP. Melchiorre has an MBA from Drexel University in Philadelphia and a B.S. in Finance from Villanova University.

"Joining Ariba is an excellent opportunity to continue to build a world-class software organization and further enhance the leadership position that Ariba has established," said Melchiorre. "With Ariba's market-leading products, we can deliver a complete solution that dramatically lowers operating resource costs and delivers significant business benefits to our clients."

About Ariba

Ariba is the leader in enterprise-wide Operating Resource Management (ORM) solutions for Global 2000 corporations. The company's products deliver a high return on investment by improving the acquisition and management of operating resources, the goods and services required to operate a company. Ariba's comprehensive ORM solution leverages the Internet, corporate intranets, and an advanced network application architecture to efficiently connect requestors to approvers, buyers to suppliers, and the Ariba system to other enterprise applications. Ariba and its strategic partners offer consulting and implementation services, training, and technical support that enable rapid deployment of scalable, flexible, enterprise-wide Operating Resource Management solutions. Ariba can be contacted at 408/543-3800 or at www.ariba.com.

Note to Editors: Ariba is a registered trademark of Ariba Technologies Inc. Ariba Operating Resource Management System, Ariba ORMS, and Walk-Up User Interface are trademarks of Ariba Technologies Inc. All other products or company names mentioned are used for identification purposes only, and may be trademarks of their respective owners.

    CONTACT: Ariba Technologies
              C.J. Glynn, 408/543-3800
              [e-mail]
                  or
              Blanc & Otus Public Relations
              Lisa Copass, 415/512-0500
              [e-mail]