Item: SAP Ariba
Rating: 10
Author: Gary George

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

SAP Ariba is deployed across our global organisation to receive purchase orders and for the majority of clients submit their invoices. There are also numerous punchout and cif catalogues that allow for seamless ordering either directly from the clients Buyer platform or by navigating around ours, building a basket of goods and executing an order automatically.

Pros and Cons

Repository for all transactional documents
Simplistic user interface making it easy to navigate
Flexible configuration for multiple clients
Good security controls
Built to manage global transactions

Limited routing options for different departments or systems
Reporting is sub par for a supplier
Multiple account manager for a user needs reviewing
Little coordination between the supplier and buyer when launching global enablements
Experienced suppliers sometimes know the process better than the enablement team
Little ability to test punchout processes without the client

Return on Investment

Speed of payment
Transparency within the process
Reduction in manual document invoicing
Transaction fee capping for global accounts
Compliance to purchase order receipts

Alternatives Considered

Tradeshift Go, Coupa and Tungsten Network

As a supplier we are driven by the platform that our clients are using for electronic transactions, SAP Ariba by far is our largest footprint of clients on the platform and therefore the one we have most experience on. Coupa and Tradeshift have beautifully modern interfaces making it easy for the end user to navigate and find what they are looking for, but from an administration side across multiple clients, countries and users neither are as strong or flexible in their approach as Ariba, but keep in mind though we have a limited experience here with only a handful of smaller clients on these networks.

Key Insights

Do you think SAP Ariba delivers good value for the price?

Yes

Are you happy with SAP Ariba's feature set?

Yes

Did SAP Ariba live up to sales and marketing promises?

Yes

Did implementation of SAP Ariba go as expected?

Yes

Would you buy SAP Ariba again?

Yes

Likelihood to Recommend

Although SAP Ariba supplier platform has its faults, the overall process and management of the documents and notifications on the platform make it an absolute essential tool to a supplier. Added to that the Discovery option where suppliers have the ability to build their revenue by responding to RFPs that are published matching their organisations capabilities seems like a winner. Tapping into a vast network can only bring good things to any supplier.

A suppliers view of the platform

Overall Satisfaction with SAP Ariba Procurement