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The Quarterly Outlook
 Dear Colleague:
Since the global recession is a topic that remains at the top of the minds of procurement and finance professionals, we decided to provide you with some tips for better interpreting the data that is cited regularly in Ariba SupplyWatch and in financial publications such as the Wall Street Journal.
In our feature article this quarter, we take a deeper look into the data published by ISM—reaching beyond the manufacturing (PMI) and non-manufacturing (NMI) indexes that we typically cover. You may not be aware, but in addition to validating current market trends, the ISM reports provide insight into what might be on the global economic horizon. We focus on some of the survey readings that comprise the broader indexes and let you know how to use those numbers to draw conclusions about market trends and the future state of the economy.
We continue this quarter with our new section from the last issue, which takes a look at macroeconomic data in key regions throughout the world and what those numbers mean to you. We expect that this information will continue to be useful as you plan your upcoming sourcing initiatives.
Throughout our category detail sections, we continue to emphasize the opportunity for savings that the recession has created. As we communicated last quarter, however, there are market indicators that demonstrate that the window of opportunity may soon close to drive such significant savings. We still recommend that buyers take action during this quarter and the next one, but we do strongly encourage reading the full Ariba SupplyWatch for insights relating to the specific categories.
As always, we welcome your feedback and thoughts at supplywatchreport@ariba.com. See you next quarter.
Sincerely,
John Starr
Vice President, Global Services Organization, Ariba, Inc.
Mark Clouse
Vice President, Spend Management Services, Ariba, Inc.
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