IBM gets in on petroleum, chemical marketplace
A group of the world's largest petroleum and chemical companies chooses IBM to build an industry marketplace for launch early next month.
The new venture, called Envera, will provide online procurement and transaction services to the chemical and petroleum industry using IBM technology and hosting and management services, IBM said in a statement.
A representative for Armonk, N.Y.-based IBM said its business-to-business partners, Ariba and i2 Technologies, have not been named in the deal because Envera is still evaluating the technology end of the venture.
In March, IBM, Ariba and i2 signed a partnership to provide a wide range of services to companies that wanted to take their business online. At the time, Big Blue also took an equity stake in both companies.
Envera's founding partners are some of the largest petroleum and chemical companies in the world, including BF Goodrich Performance Materials, Castrol International, Eastman Chemical, Occidental Chemical and Sunoco.