Ariba, Inc. jointly announced a strategic partnership to provide end-to-end business-to-business e-commerce application services. Under the agreement, USi will provide Ariba solutions to mid-sized and large-sized companies through the ASP model. The comprehensive partnership includes product development, application implementation and management services, and cooperative sales and marketing. Under terms of the agreement, USi is a preferred ASP for Ariba solutions, and will introduce a new service offering based on the hosted Ariba ORMX application. USi will integrate the Ariba ORMX solution with its Internet Managed Application Provider (iMAP) portfolio as part of a complete eCommerce offering to its existing and future customer base. USi will actively market, sell, deliver and support this new service. Clients will pay a flat monthly fee to receive the Ariba ORMX application as an iMAP service while gaining access to the comprehensive functionality of the Ariba Network eCommerce platform. Suppliers to Ariba ORMX-equipped buyers can use USi’s sell-side e-commerce services to transact with buyers through the Ariba Network platform using the cXML (Commerce Extensible Markup Language) standard. www.ariba.com