Aravo Publishes Top Supplier Information Management Risks Threatening Companies in 2009

• Reliance on historical assumptions
• Disregarding obvious risks due to outdated data
• Overlooking concealed risks due to lack of supplier knowledge
• Underestimating collaboration and communication needs for managing downstream suppliers
• Limiting risk assessment by relying on too few factors.

For details on how these risk factors are impacting companies today, please visit www.2sustain.com.

Recently, weekly headlines have spotlighted the importance of monitoring supplier risk—from A.T. Kearney's new study forecasting that half of U.S. automotive suppliers could go bankrupt in 2009, to research from the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences estimating that 100,000 Chinese manufacturing suppliers went out of business in 2008, to Aberdeen Group's February 2009 survey reporting that 58% of industrial and consumer goods manufacturers across the globe have suffered financial losses from supply chain disruptions over the past year.

The company also announced Aravo SIMpl (Supplier Information Management Project Lifecycle), a faster time-to-ROI methodology developed by Aravo Global Services to help customers see the value of their investment in supply chain technology. Because of its software-as-a-service delivery model, Aravo SIMpl jumpstarts the ability for customers to manage suppliers and enables them to bypass the common risk factors for 2009 to better predict potential supply disruptions and proactively mitigate risks. By utilizing Aravo SIMpl in conjunction with the Aravo SIM SaaS offering, customers can reduce risk by quickly consolidating large amounts of supplier information from multiple, disparate sources - internal and external - classifying data into meaningful categories that can be tracked and managed in near real-time.

Aravo SIMpl: Achieve ROI in as little as sixty days

Aravo SIMpl follows a five-step process that starts with an existing client's supplier business processes and quickly optimizes and enhances them. Many consulting methodologies take months to implement, but by aligning Aravo SIMpl with the Aravo SIM SaaS offering, the new service offers an iterative process that is interactive with customers. This type of iteration allows customers to see their business processes modeled in real time - within two weeks - eliminating surprises and ensuring immediate alignment with project goals. As a result, Aravo customers are seeing ROI from their SIM implementations in as little as sixty days, versus six months with typical implementation processes.

"Aravo SIMpl helps our clients move rapidly through the requirement-gathering phase so they can begin seeing the value of their IT investment in Aravo SIM," said Sig Lackner, Vice President of Aravo Global Services. " Our customers want to gain better visibility over supplier information and reduce supplier risk—needs which are magnified in today's volatile economic environment. Our goal is to help them leverage industry-proven best practices that are then automated into their business processes. As a result, SIMpl helps them see results in as little as sixty days."

About Aravo Solutions

Founded in 2000, Aravo provides on-demand, SaaS solutions that remove the cost and complexity of enabling and managing supplier information. Aravo's flagship product, Aravo SIM, has defined the supplier information management (SIM) category, and gives enterprises real-time global views that make efficient supplier engagement more cost effective and strategic. From supply management to sustainability to risk management and compliance, Aravo SIM was built to solve today's most demanding supplier information management challenges while delivering the flexibility to meet tomorrow's emerging needs. The world's largest and most complex organizations trust Aravo to manage their global supplier information. For more information, visit www.aravo.com.