Sehe ich nicht so:
"Lafayette, Ga.-based Pruett Supply, with a staff of 18, was nudged online by one of its largest customers, who wanted it to use Ariba Inc.'s business exchange software"
(...)
"But spending the time, energy and money on getting the data ready and marked in the format that Ariba wants, has been a big cost."
"has been" und nicht "would have been"
Ich denke, daß Softquad Software Ltd nur eine Beraterfunktion hatte.