E-Sourcing Forum » Vendor update day

Vendor update day - Part III

August 13th, 2007 at 12:31pm David Bush - Iasta

This one cracked me up. Ariba issued a press release recently which proclaimed a new client acquisition, Blue Cross-Blue Shield NJ. So, whats the significance of this? Nobody really reads press releases, right?

Here is the dirty little secret about the client win PR game. We know no one reads them, but their purpose is two-fold. First, you can show that you have real clients that are willing to admit being associated with you. That is pretty cool and raises the credibility bar pretty high. Second, the release is probably written to “stick it to” the main competitor for that account. In this case, its Procuri, by my guess. Prior to being acquired by Procuri, CMSI would tell any one listening that they had deep penetration in the BCBS network, which was in fact, true. Its not immediately clear from the release if Ariba Sourcing is going to be included, but it surely will make a company uncomfortable to know that your direct competitor is sitting across the room sowing doubt about you. We specifically released a client win in the past because we knew the company evaluated 14 different applications before choosing Iasta. That was our way of letting everyone know they lost. That particular company just signed another long term extension, so life is good and we had our fun.

Childish..probably, devious..probably, reality..definitely.

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Entry Filed under: General, e-Sourcing Marketplace

2 Comments Add your own

1. Marcus | August 24th, 2007 at 8:36 am

David,

Not sure where you got your information, but it was wrong. BCBS of NJ was looking for a eProcurement application. As a result, Procuri wasn’t even part of the equation.

Please get you acts straight before blogging.

Marcus
2. David Bush - Iasta | August 24th, 2007 at 9:21 am

Hello Marcus from NJ, you are on the air…

Maybe you should read what I wrote before posting comments on my blog. Everything I stated was 100% fact from a business wire press release from Ariba or clearly defined as my opinion only.

FACT: Ariba issued a press release regarding BCBS NJ

FACT: CMSI was very proud of their BCBS client portfolio and successfully leveraged it in their favor.

FACT: The press release does not explicitly state whether sourcing was part of the deployment and I very clearly said that. It is logical to assume the Ariba sales rep would like to expand the deployment over time regardless of whether this location has eSourcing now or not.

Nothing else was stated, despite your misinterpretation, and this post was not about Ariba or Procuri, specifically. It was about how press releases are used and even how we do it.

We appreciate your patronage at ESF, thank you drive through.

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