The EC Company and Ariba Team to Electronically Enable Small Suppliers; Suppliers can connect to Ariba Commerce Services Network via The EC Company's EC Exchange.

Business Editors/High-Tech Writers

PALO ALTO, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--June 27, 2000

The EC Company, which offers a hosted Internet Transaction Exchange that provides a business to business (b2b) eCommerce solution for small and mid-size suppliers, and Ariba, Inc. (Nasdaq:ARBA), the leading provider of business to business eCommerce solutions, today announced an alliance to provide small suppliers transaction capabilities on the Ariba B2B Commerce Platform(TM), thereby gaining access to the buyers and marketplaces on the Ariba platform.

The Ariba Commerce Services Network(TM) provides the infrastructure to enable suppliers to do business over the Internet with leading buying organizations and marketplaces worldwide. Working with technology solutions such as EC Exchange, the Ariba Commerce Services Network allows suppliers to participate in B2B eCommerce regardless of their size or technical capabilities.

Through this alliance, EC Exchange will be integrated with the Ariba Commerce Services Network, enabling small suppliers to electronically exchange vital business documents, such as purchase orders, order acknowledgements, catalog updates and invoices with large buying organizations and online marketplaces on the Ariba B2B Commerce Platform. Optimized for small and mid-size suppliers, EC Exchange removes the technical complexity of managing multiple data protocols to electronically exchange business documents with buyers. EC Exchange will be one of Ariba's recommended enablement options for suppliers via Ariba's Supplier Advisor(TM).

"The EC Company's EC Exchange extends our ability to bring small suppliers onto the Ariba B2B Commerce Platform," said Cindy Elkins, senior director, Global Supplier and Content Solutions for Ariba. "We are continuing to execute our strategy of enabling suppliers of all sizes and capabilities to capture the benefits of B2B commerce. We have chosen to work with The EC Company because it offers small suppliers a powerful but easy-to-use solution for doing business with multiple buyers and marketplaces."

"The EC Company - Ariba relationship joins two leaders in the B2B eCommerce space," said Andrew T. Duncan, president and CEO of The EC Company. "Connecting our networks will leverage both of our open commerce services to electronically enable the greatest number of businesses. EC Exchange-enabled suppliers will be able to connect to buying organizations, both on and off the Ariba Commerce Services Network, to exchange business documents, such as purchase orders and invoices as well as manage their inventory and catalog data with electronic marketplaces. The data in those documents can then be integrated into the supplier's back office applications, thereby streamlining the order processing cycle. We see this relationship as extending both companies' leadership positions in the B2B infrastructure space."

"Business to business eCommerce will never reach its full promise if small and medium-sized businesses can't effectively participate as sellers on the Internet. Our research has found that only 16% of U.S. small businesses will be connected to the Internet through a permanent high-speed network connection at the end of 2000," said Richard Villars, vice president of Internet and eCommerce strategies at IDC. "The linking of emarketplaces like Aribas' with solutions like those offered by The EC Company will allow businesses of all sizes to more effectively exchange eCommerce information between multiple marketplaces, and legacy systems."

About Ariba, Inc.

Ariba, Inc. is the leading business-to-business (B2B) eCommerce platform provider. Through the Ariba B2B Commerce platform -- an open, end-to-end infrastructure of interoperable software solutions and hosted Web-based commerce services -- the company enables efficient online trade, integration and collaboration between B2B marketplaces, buyers, suppliers and commerce service providers. The global reach and best-of-breed functionality of the Ariba B2B Commerce platform creates Internet-driven economies of scale and process efficiencies for leading companies around the world, including more than 20 of the Fortune 100. Ariba can be contacted in the U.S. at 650/930-6200 or at www.ariba.com.

About The EC Company

The EC Company offers a business to business Internet Transaction Exchange that provides eCommerce solutions for mid-size suppliers. The company's EC Exchange product and EC Exchange.net service enable trading relationships within and across communities. The combined offering is a hosted Internet-based electronic transaction exchange that manages and translates data standards seamlessly and effortlessly at a fraction of the cost of non-Internet based solutions.

The EC Company has strategic business alliances with Ariba, webMethods and VerticalNet, and has partnered with over 150 industry leading companies, including Ace Hardware, Distribution America, Do It Best, Fisher Scientific, Food Lion, Pacific Gas and Electric Company, and Newark Electronics. The community of buyers available on The EC Company's EC Exchange network includes the previously mentioned partners, as well as TruServ, Safeway, Rite Aid, 3M, Costco, General Mills, Grainger, and others. In addition to American Express (NYSE: AXP), CMGI @Ventures, and webMethods (Nasdaq:WEBM), The EC Company is backed by Acacia Research (Nasdaq:ACRI) and several venture firms, including Talkot Capital, Wasserstein Adelson Ventures, iCentennial Ventures, and Invemed Associates. For more information, The EC Company can be contacted at 650/323-7500 or www.eccompany.com.