ESS Fuels Growth with Ariba

In a country where Requests for Quotes (RFQ) are made public largely through ads in national newspapers – if they are made public at all – finding business can be tough. But it just got easier for Exceptional Service and Supply Ltd. (ESS), thanks to Ariba, an SAP company. Like nearly 2 million buying and selling organizations, the Angola-based provider of logistics and facilities management services to the petroleum industry has connected to the Ariba® Network. And it is using the world’s largest, most global business-to-business trading platform to digitize and simplify the commerce process – and fuel expansion and growth in the process. On September 18, Ariba will host a Commerce Summit at the Four Seasons in Johannesburg where local buyers and sellers can learn how they can do the same. Registration for the free, one-day event is open today.

“In a market like Angola, it’s very 20^th century in terms of how business gets done,” says ESS Founder and President Alex Thomson-Payan. “With Ariba, we can take things to the next level.”

An Easy, Transparent Process

ESS joined the Ariba Network in order to participate in a bid with one of the world’s six super major oil and gas companies. And within 45 days, it had a multi-million contract.

“It was such an easy, seamless and transparent process,” Thomson-Payan says. “And it’s creating huge opportunities for us.”

According to Thomson-Payan, the transparency that Ariba provides is key and gives him a clear advantage over his competitors. “For any multinational company that is bidding out work in a foreign country, transparency is always an issue,” he says. “Ariba allows companies to monitor their bidding process on an international level, and as a company on the platform, I can provide a greater level of comfort.”

A Simple Way to Connect with Business

Since winning its initial bid, ESS has signed up for Ariba® Discovery™, the premier service for matching business buyers and sellers globally. Delivered via the Ariba Network, Ariba Discovery simplifies the process of discovering qualified partners and business leads by instantly matching buyer requirements to supplier capabilities. Using the service, buying organizations with budget in active purchasing cycles can:

• Evaluate profiles and unique qualifying information for more selling organizations in over 20,000 categories worldwide
• Access community-based references and ratings to evaluate seller capabilities and performance
• Gain visibility into e-commerce capabilities and performance with other buying organizations to determine experience level and fit
• Track minority, women and veteran-owned business status and green certifications to support corporate diversity and social responsibility initiatives

“There are very poor marketing platforms between the suppliers and the major operators in the Angolan market,” he says. “Ariba is a platform that I know all the operators are on and I am willing to invest in it because I know that our marketing dollars are going to connect us with people who are looking for what we offer and ready to buy. We are almost overwhelmed by the amount of opportunity that we see.”

A Platform for Global Expansion

And Thomson-Payan is intent on using the Ariba Network and the Ariba Discovery service to grow his business further. “There are a lot of international companies who use Ariba to make decisions for the local market. I’m hoping to leverage this to win global deals.”

Facilitating these types of connections is what business networks are all about. “Just as consumer networks have revolutionized the way we shop, share and consume, in our personal lives, business networks are transforming the way we discover, connect and collaborate at work,” says Rob Mihalko, Vice President, Ariba Network Marketing. “And they are creating a new model for business that delivers innovation and advantage for savvy companies like ESS that embrace them.”

In the last year, over $3.7 billion in new business opportunities have been posted and more than 23.6 million leads exchanged through Ariba Discovery. To learn more about the service and the value it can deliver for your organization, visit: http://discovery.ariba.com

To register for the Ariba Commerce Summit in Johannesburg, visit: http://www.ariba.com/lp/2015-ariba-commerce-summits

About ESS

ESS is a company with extensive experience in the local Angolan market. Run by American and European individuals, ESS helps foreign companies trying to enter and operate in the market to focus on their core business and have ESS deal with all the local operational barriers. ESS is a 100% local content company providing services to clients such as GE, BP, Schlumberger, Conoco Philips, Halliburton, among others. It holds divisions in Facility Management, Logistics, Procurement, Heavy Machinery Rental, IT solutions, and more. As an Angolan company, ESS serves as a local JV partner for international companies seeking to operate in Angola.

About Ariba, an SAP Company

Ariba is the world’s business commerce network. Ariba combines industry-leading cloud-based applications with the world's largest Internet-based trading community to help companies discover and collaborate with a global network of partners. Using the Ariba^® Network, businesses of all sizes can connect to their trading partners anywhere, at any time from any application or device to buy, sell and manage their cash more efficiently and effectively than ever before. Companies around the world use the Ariba Network to simplify inter-enterprise commerce and enhance the results that they deliver. Join them at: www.ariba.com

About SAP

As market leader in enterprise application software, SAP (NYSE: SAP) helps companies of all sizes and industries run better. From back office to boardroom, warehouse to storefront, desktop to mobile device – SAP empowers people and organizations to work together more efficiently and use business insight more effectively to stay ahead of the competition. SAP applications and services enable more than 293,500 customers to operate profitably, adapt continuously, and grow sustainably. For more information, visit www.sap.com.

Any statements contained in this document that are not historical facts are forward-looking statements as defined in the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Words such as “anticipate,” “believe,” “estimate,” “expect,” “forecast,” “intend,” “may,” “plan,” “project,” “predict,” “should” and “will” and similar expressions as they relate to SAP are intended to identify such forward-looking statements. SAP undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements. All forward-looking statements are subject to various risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from expectations. The factors that could affect SAP's future financial results are discussed more fully in SAP's filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC"), including SAP's most recent Annual Report on Form 20-F filed with the SEC. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of their dates.

© 2015 SAP SE. All rights reserved.

SAP and other SAP products and services mentioned herein as well as their respective logos are trademarks or registered trademarks of SAP SE in Germany and other countries. Please see http://www.sap.com/corporate-en/legal/copyright/index.epx#trademark for additional trademark information and notices.

View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20150914005202/en/