Emptoris, a provider of enterprise supply and contract management software, and SciQuest, a company focusing on empowering enterprises to realize the potential of strategic procurement, announced the formation of a strategic alliance to jointly target and serve the education, government, healthcare, and life science markets.

The alliance was unveiled at the Emptoris Empower 2008 Conference, one of the largest annual user conferences for supply and contract management leaders.

From sourcing to settlement, Emptoris and SciQuest noted, they will work together to help organizations efficiently drive cost savings and contract compliance by capitalizing on the combined value of each company's proven offerings and services.

Under the terms of the agreement, the companies will conduct certain joint sales and marketing activities, as well as collaborate on customer implementations of both companies' solutions, including Emptoris' sourcing, contract management and spend analysis solutions and SciQuest's procurement automation and supplier enablement solutions.

"Emptoris and SciQuest solutions are core components of our global, complete sourcing-to-settlement solution at GlaxoSmithKline," said Gregg Brandyberry, vice president of Procurement Global Systems & Operations at GlaxoSmithKline and a provider of procurement and sourcing technologies. "This alliance will benefit organizations that view procurement as a core business function to address financial, social responsibility and operational goals, by allowing them to derive greater value from goods purchased on contract and extensive business intelligence."

The companies noted that GlaxoSmithKline's procurement system is widely regarded as one of the world's most efficient and effective. The company is a longtime customer of both Emptoris and SciQuest.

Emptoris provides supply and contract management software solutions that enable enterprises to realize best value and accelerate profitable growth. The Emptoris software suite includes solutions for contract management, sourcing, spend analysis, and compliance, as well as supplier performance management.

"Emptoris and SciQuest offer a compelling combination for companies in the government, healthcare provider, life sciences and education markets," said Ted Williams, Senior Vice President of Global Field Operations for Emptoris, Inc. "Both companies have strong customer relationships in their markets -- and close coordination of our solutions will ensure that customers receive increased value from both company's solutions."

SciQuest's solutions, delivered via software-as-a-service deployment, enable all stakeholders in the procurement process to realize the value of a more strategic approach to procurement.

"SciQuest's and Emptoris' offerings function in concert with one another at many of the world's leading procurement operations," said Jeff Martini, senior vice president of Worldwide Sales at SciQuest. "This alliance presents our customers with comprehensive resources that can address the procurement and sourcing needs of global organizations where the procurement process includes everything from reverse auctions to online supplier catalogs."