The UK's market leader of online hotel booking solutions, The Corporate Team, announced today that is has successfully implemented Ariba® PunchOut™ technology to provide buying organisations with the ability to purchase hotel accommodation online via the Ariba® Buyer™ procurement solution. In addition, the company also announced the completion of Ariba® Ready™ testing, demonstrating their PunchOut capabilities via the Ariba Ready portal.

Ariba is the leading provider of enterprise spend management (ESM) solutions. Ariba PunchOut enables procurement users to seamlessly access, or "punch out" to a suppliers website via the Ariba® Supplier Network™ (Ariba SN), to gather purchasing information and then return to the Ariba Buyer solution to complete the purchase.

About the PunchOut process
Ariba technology and The Corporate Team's (TCT) implementation uses cXML industry standards. To initiate a "punch out" session with TCT's website, a user sends a PunchOut Setup Request cXML message. Once authenticated, the message is transmitted to the buying organisation via the Ariba SN, to TCT's 'punch out' website for the session. TCT's 'punch out' website has real-time access to live hotel rates and inventory so the user can check availability and make an online booking, which is confirmed instantly. Upon completing the booking the user returns to the Ariba Buyer solution."

Ariba PunchOut gives customers seamless access to a vendor's website, while allowing the vendor to manage and preserve it's branding and marketing efforts, and maintain closer contact with the customer," said Cindy Elkins VP Ariba Supplier Programs. "Completing Ariba Ready will also provide The Corporate Team the opportunity to expand their integration to enterprises utilizing the Ariba® Spend Management™ solution, by providing TCT with resources to proactively touch our customer base."

"TCT is thrilled to be the first hotel booking service provider to offer an eProcurement solution through the Ariba SN," says Jay Virdee, Managing Director, The Corporate Team. "Our integration with Ariba SN helps our customers reap the benefits of their investment in their e-Procurement applications and allows TCT to maximise its market opportunity" he added. "A large UK enterprise in the insurance sector is currently leveraging TCT's PunchOut site to make its hotel bookings and this helps us to proactively market ourselves to other Ariba customers."

Ariba Ready
Ariba Ready is an Ariba initiative to provide a special designation for suppliers who have demonstrated the ability to effectively transact with and provide content to organizations using Ariba® Buyer™ over Ariba® Supplier Network™ (Ariba SN). The program helps suppliers communicate their capabilities by acting as a common standard for integration and enablement that all Ariba SN participants can understand and value.

About Ariba, Inc.
Ariba, Inc. is the leading Enterprise Spend Management (ESM) solutions provider. Ariba solutions are designed to specifically address the needs of the chief financial officer and procurement professionals. The Ariba Spend Management Suite provides a single point of visibility and control allowing companies to engage, manage, and leverage the entire spend lifecycle from analysis, through sourcing, to procurement across the enterprise, while providing systematic measurement, tracking and reporting of best practices. Ariba can be contacted in the U.S. at 1.650.390.1000 or at www.ariba.com.

About The Corporate Team
TCT is the market leader in providing cutting-edge hotel booking solutions. TCT's online booking solution offers real-time availability and rate access to instant booking functionality. The booking tool is supported by a 24-hour customer support service. Further information about the services provided by TCT can be found at www.corporateteam.com

Contact
The Corporate Team
Jay Virdee
Managing Director
Tel: +44 (0) 20 7592 7222
Jay.virdee@corporateteam.com


Ariba and the Ariba logo are registered trademarks of Ariba, Inc. in the United States and in other countries. Ariba PunchOut, Ariba Buyer and Ariba Supplier Network are trademarks of Ariba Inc. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.