Making the Process Visible

VISA initiated its ORM project after conducting in-depth interviews with 25 Fortune 200 companies. VISA found that companies had three critical needs: they want solutions that provide a great deal of relevant information, help to lower administrative costs, and enable more effective supplier relationship management. After a comprehensive survey of available software, VISA determined that Ariba ORMS was, according to Schoch, "the right solution for VISA to use in automating the process of acquiring our operating resources and expanding our Purchasing card program."
VISA initially implemented Ariba ORMS in its Foster City, California, and Denver, Colorado, offices. Ariba ORMS offers users an easy-to-use, reliable interface that, in Schoch's words, "makes the whole purchasing process visible and puts information right at your fingertips."
The solution, known as the "Strategic Hub for Operational Processes and Purchasing," or "SHOPP/Ariba," is now deployed to 2,000 users. All 4,000 U.S. employees are scheduled to be on the system by October 1999, with select international deployment soon to follow.
Based On Microsoft PlatformSHOPP/Ariba integrates seamlessly with VISA's existing Microsoft-based IT infrastructure from the desktop to the back end. The system runs on Microsoft Windows NT® Server, stores data in Microsoft SQL Server™, and uses the Microsoft Internet Information Server component of Windows NT Server to upload the Ariba Java applet onto Microsoft Internet Explorer browser software. SHOPP/Ariba is configured to use the Microsoft Exchange Server directory as the main source of user profile data, and also integrates with Exchange Server for sending both Microsoft Outlook® e-mail messages to internal users and faxes bound for suppliers to VISA's central faxing system.
One of VISA's criteria for selecting its ORM solution was that it had to preserve VISA's single user password infrastructure. Ariba ORMS comes pre-packaged to integrate the Internet Authentication Server component of Windows NT Server, allowing users to simply enter their normal system user name and password into the Ariba logon screen.