Before Everest came AutoXchange.(News)

Byline: Ralph Kisiel

The Everest system is rooted in Ford Motor Co.'s earliest stab at using the Internet for global purchasing: an online system called the Ford AutoXchange.

Ford negotiated an agreement in 1999 with software vendor Oracle Corp. to form AutoXchange. It was to be an Internet purchasing bazaar where buyers and sellers could come together for auctions and other transactions.

Oracle first posed the concept to Ford's crosstown rival General Motors. But GM wanted an ownership stake in Oracle, says an executive familiar with the deal.

Oracle CEO Larry Ellison declined GM's overture, and Oracle then pitched the idea to then-Ford …