GE launches e-procurement rival to CommerceOne

NEWS General Electric (GE) has launched an online procurement service to rival CommerceOne and Ariba. The move comes as part of a broader restructuring of GE's information systems. The unit will be split into two - offering global exchange services and systems services - and will be retired as a brand-name. Procurement software is to come under the new global exchange services brand, alongside Internet data exchange, EAI (Enterprise Application Integration) software and trading partner exchanges. Online procurement is a burgeoning market, as business-to-business ecommerce takes off, but until now the market has been closely held by long-time rivals, CommerceOne and Ariba.