Ariba Positioned in ``Visionary'' Quadrant in Strategic Sourcing Applications Magic Quadrant

Business Wire, Feb 3, 2005

SUNNYVALE, Calif. -- Ariba Serves More Than 300 Sourcing Customers Who Have Collectively Sourced More Than $225 Billion Globally Using the Company's Products and Services

Ariba(R), Inc. (Nasdaq:ARBA), the leading Spend Management solutions provider, today announced that Gartner, Inc. has evaluated Ariba prior to its merger with FreeMarkets and positioned the company in the "visionary" quadrant in its Strategic Sourcing Applications Magic Quadrant.* According to Gartner, visionaries are companies that have a clear vision of market direction and are focused on preparing for that, but they can still improve in terms of optimizing service delivery.

Ariba's recent merger with FreeMarkets has created the industry's most comprehensive spend management company by bringing together the leading spend management technology and the industry's most complete sourcing and services expertise.

Through the merger, Ariba and FreeMarkets set out to bring a highly complementary and comprehensive set of services and technology to the market. The new Ariba is focused exclusively on spend management, offering a full set of tailored services to help companies drive benefits from their internal spend management initiatives.

"Ariba currently serves more than 300 sourcing customers who have collectively sourced more than $225 billion globally using our products and services," said Michael Schmitt, Chief Marketing Officer, Ariba. "We are focused on spend management as a strategic undertaking that will help to accelerate bottom-line results for our customers. Ariba will continue its innovation to provide greater capabilities in support of these initiatives. For years, Ariba has led the spend management evolution. Now with the completion of our merger with FreeMarkets, we have combined the strengths of both companies to gain significant market advantages and secure our position as the industry leader."

The report can be viewed from Ariba's website at http://www.ariba.com/magicquadrant.> 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.

* "Magic Quadrant for Strategic Sourcing Applications, 2004," A. Kyte, C. Eschinger, A. White, January 31, 2005. The Magic Quadrant is copyrighted January 31, 2005, by Gartner, Inc. and is reused with permission. The Magic Quadrant is a graphical representation of a marketplace at and for a specific time period. It depicts Gartner's analysis of how certain vendors measure against criteria for that marketplace, as defined by Gartner. Gartner does not endorse any vendor, product or service depicted in the Magic Quadrant, and does not advise technology users to select only those vendors placed in the "Leaders" quadrant. The Magic Quadrant is intended solely as a research tool, and is not meant to be a specific guide to action. Gartner disclaims all warranties, express or implied, with respect to this research, including any warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose.

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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 its 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; 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 filed December 14, 2004.