SAP Community - SAP Ariba Supplier Risk

SAP Ariba Supplier Management

2025-06-24T11:02:49.945000+02:00

Key Features of SAP Ariba Supplier Management

Supplier Lifecycle Management: SAP Ariba simplifies supplier onboarding and qualification processes, reducing cycle times and ensuring that supplier data is accurate and up-to-date. This is achieved through automated workflows and integration with SAP ERP systems
Performance Management: The platform provides tools for continuous monitoring and evaluation of supplier performance. Businesses can set performance metrics and track compliance, helping to identify and mitigate risks proactively
Risk Management: SAP Ariba includes robust risk management features, such as risk due diligence and proactive risk monitoring. This helps businesses protect their brand reputation and ensure compliance with regulations like the German Supply Chain Due Diligence Act
Sustainability and ESG Compliance: The solution supports sustainability initiatives by enabling businesses to assess and manage suppliers based on environmental, social, and governance (ESG) criteria. This ensures that procurement decisions align with corporate sustainability goals
Integration with Procurement Apps: SAP Ariba integrates seamlessly with other procurement solutions, maintaining consistent supplier qualification and segmentation. This integration helps businesses drive spend to preferred suppliers and reduce risks at every step of the procurement process

Benefits of Using SAP Ariba Supplier Management

Improved Collaboration: By centralizing supplier information and processes, SAP Ariba enhances collaboration between buyers and suppliers, leading to better communication and more efficient procurement operations
Enhanced Compliance: Automated workflows and comprehensive risk management tools ensure that businesses remain compliant with industry regulations and standards
Cost Savings: Streamlined processes and improved supplier performance management contribute to significant cost savings and operational efficiencies
Greater Transparency: The platform provides greater visibility into supplier activities and performance, enabling businesses to make informed decisions and manage risks effectively

Conclusion

SAP Ariba Supplier Management is a powerful tool that helps businesses manage their supplier relationships more effectively. By leveraging its comprehensive features, companies can enhance their procurement processes, reduce risks, and achieve their sustainability goals. As the business landscape continues to evolve,

AI Won’t Save Bad Data: Lessons from the Field in Supplier Management

2025-07-22T17:29:14.549000+02:00

Let’s be honest: supplier management isn’t always glamorous.

You know that moment when a supplier insists they’ve already registered — and you realize they used the wrong ANID (again)? Or when you're prepping for a risk review and notice half your supplier questionnaires are incomplete?

In my role in SAP Solution Value Advisory, I work with customers across industries to help them get the most out of SAP Ariba Supplier Lifecycle & Performance (SLP) and Supplier Risk. Every company is different, but the challenges tend to be the same — especially as AI becomes a bigger part of the conversation.

One thing I say to customers (half-joking, half-pleading) is this: AI won’t save bad data. It’ll just make your bad data faster.

If you're aiming for AI-driven insights and automation, the groundwork matters more than ever. That means:

Structuring your supplier registration flows thoughtfully, and using Modular Questionnaires where applicable
Regularly cleaning up duplicate or inactive supplier records
Making it easy — and worthwhile — for suppliers to participate

Set Your Suppliers Up for Success

I’ve seen too many teams stuck chasing suppliers to complete registrations, risk assessments, and questionnaires. Features like automated reminders and nudges can help, but participation truly improves when:

Suppliers understand what’s in it for them
The process is simple and straightforward
You provide clear guidance (even a short how-to video can work wonders)

We can’t control supplier behavior — but we can control the experience we create.

Not Sure Where to Start?

Here are a few lesser-used gems in Ariba SLP that can make a big difference in onboarding and maintaining clean supplier data:

Process Framework – Collect supplier info that’s commodity/region-specific, or doesn’t belong in the initial registration
Preferred Supplier Flags – Especially useful if you're using Guided Buying
Approval Workflows by Category or Region – More control without more noise
Supplier Data Snapshots & Reporting – Track onboarding durations, identify bottlenecks, and analyze where your process might be over-engineered.

Maybe you’re collecting data too early. Maybe some supplier types are being asked for more than they need to provide. Don’t be afraid to question whether your current setup still fits your organization’s broader Source-to-Pay process.

Data Today = AI Tomorrow

Customers often ask me:
“Will Ariba use AI to flag risky suppliers?”
“Can it automate profile scoring?”

Yes — exciting things are on the way. But AI depends on patterns. And patterns only emerge from clean, complete, consistent data. Think of it like training a chef with a messy fridge. If half your ingredients are mislabeled, expired, or missing, you’re not getting a Michelin-star meal, you’re getting mystery soup.

What I’d love to hear from you:
What’s your biggest supplier management headache? What clever workaround have you built in Ariba? How do you motivate suppliers to fill out their info?

Drop a comment or message me here in the SAP Community, I’d love to connect!

2508 Early Release Series for SAP Ariba and SAP Business Network releases

2025-07-24T01:43:27.608000+02:00

Sign up now for the 2508 Early Release Series

Follow this blog to receive notification of new series as soon as registration opens.

SAP strives to equip our customers and partners with valuable release readiness resources for each SAP Ariba and SAP Business Network quarterly release.

Early Release Series

The Early Release Series webcasts cover features planned for the upcoming SAP Ariba and SAP Business Network quarterly release. This platform, available to customers and partners, has a clear mission: deliver an interactive forum to engage with SAP product experts providing simple, direct answers to your most pressing questions. There is a different session for each product area with content tailored for the specific audience:

Supplier Management & Risk
Procure to Pay
Source to Contract

Note: With this release, the Early Release Series will not include a SAP Business Network session.

If you want to learn more and actively engage with SAP subject matter experts, we encourage you to participate in these informative sessions. Register now!

Quarterly Release Communications

Notice of upcoming quarterly releases will be communicated to Buyer customers three weeks prior to the release date. Suppliers receive notice two weeks prior. Releases are communicated via email notification (look for subject line starting with: Advance Release Notice).

Anyone from your organization that has chosen to subscribe to product notifications will receive these announcements.

The release calendar for SAP Business Network and release calendar SAP Ariba Applications identify release timing several quarters in advance.

Where to find out more details?

On demand replays of webcasts from completed quarterly releases can be consumed from Release Readiness Resources: Webcast Archive Page

What's New in 2508 - Release Navigator for Spend Management

2025-07-28T17:35:04.449000+02:00

We're thrilled to announce the upcoming innovations for our 2508 Release! Our dedicated team has been working tirelessly to ensure you stay ahead with the latest enhancements.

Over the coming months, we'll be revamping and enriching our related content to mirror the newest advancements. Currently users can still access Business Network via the Release Navigator for Spend Management, you will be re-directed to the Release Navigator for Supply Chain Management. As this journey continues, SAP Business Network content will begin to migrate from Spend Management communications to Supply Chain Management communications and portals! Dive into the 2508 release details below.

Here are feature Highlights for the 2508 release for SAP Ariba and SAP Business Network. Make sure to read through the blogs to learn more about these features and ensure you are properly prepared for these updates.

SAP Ariba:

Joule in SAP Ariba Applications including features: GUIDEB-1163, SLP-2258, SOURCE-2725
FRM-809: WalkMe Available in SAP Ariba Products
ARBCATA-463: Ability to Set an Initiative as Obsolete in SAP Ariba Category Management
GUIDEB-915: Asset Management in Guided Buying
SOURCE-2260: Enhancement to Guided Sourcing

SAP Business Network:

BNCAT-3708: Trading Partner Search for Suppliers
APIN-3306: Enhancements to Relationship Management User Interface
NS-34429: Enhanced Notification Option for Buyers

FRM-809: WalkMe Available in SAP Ariba Products

The WalkMe Digital Adoption Platform is now integrated with SAP Ariba products. Users can take advantage of easy-to-understand guidance powered by WalkMe.

WalkMe is an AI-powered solution that enables teams to create guidance and automation in the flow of work, while giving business and technology leaders insights into how people are using the software and where users can be more self-sufficient. This enables organizations to accelerate user adoption of technology, boost productivity, and maximize the value of enterprise software investments.

WalkMe is available in the following SAP Ariba capabilities and products:

Guided sourcing
Guided buying
SAP Ariba Invoice Management
SAP Ariba Contracts
SAP Ariba Supplier Lifecycle and Performance
SAP Ariba Supplier Risk

WalkMe comes with standard content from SAP Ariba.

You can add custom content tailored for your organization by first purchasing WalkMe Premium for SAP Ariba Solutions and creating your own WalkMe content.

For more information about WalkMe for SAP Ariba check out the What’s New Viewer Documentation.

Follow the Spend Management and Business Network and ReadinessS@Scale community tags, and Ryan Russman to stay up to date with the latest blog posts.

The 2508 release will incorporate release content updates only. With the migration of SAP Business Network to Supply Chain Management, the Release Navigator for Spend Management will continue to publish content updates but may delay UX updates to help minimize disruption to customers and partners.

Support.SAP.com – Release Ready page

SAP Activate – Roadmap Viewer

SAP Enterprise Support Value Map - SAP Enterprise Support Value Map for Spend Management and Business Network

Making Your Impact

At SAP, we greatly appreciate your input and suggestions. You are invited to submit feedback and suggest topics to be covered through our Topic Request & Feedback Survey. This survey provides you with an opportunity to provide insights on your experience with the release navigator for Spend Management and Business Network, as well as suggestions on how we can further enhance your release experience. Additionally, we encourage you to share your feedback, thoughts, or questions in the comment section below.

SAP Ariba 2508 Release Key Innovations Preview

2025-07-31T12:39:50.411000+02:00

Highlights of Enhancements across Procurement

Joule, Your AI Copilot

As you may know, Joule is the SAP AI copilot - a virtual assistant that uses a conversational interface to help users of SAP business applications complete tasks more efficiently.

The conversational interface is brought to life with the help of these 4 interaction patterns:

With informational interactions we are providing our users knowledge-based results. All SAP applications in which Joule is available make their knowledge-base available via Joule, e.g. SAP Help Documentation. This is managed by SAP and offered to every Joule user out of the box.
We're also bringing in Document Grounding with which we enable our customers to upload their customer-owned content, e.g. HR-policies, travel-policies, FAQs, and others, so that their users can ask questions based on these documents.

Navigational Pattern - Easily navigate SAP applications by simply asking via natural language. Joule offers you a navigational link which opens the respective application and UI in a new browser tab. In the destination, a user can open Joule again and continue where they have left with the same conversation history.

Transactional interactions provide our users with a direct entry point to the backend system. Triggering and influencing business processes with the power of natural language and AI. E.g. purchase orders which need to be reviewed and approved, job positions which are created or any other CRUD-interaction (create, read, update, delete) within SAP cloud applications.

And a 4th, Analytical pattern to enable analytical interactions based on JustAsk and SAP Analytics Cloud, enabling customers to leverage Joule for analytical queries. This is currently not implemented in Ariba.

With the Q3 2025 release, Joule is being made available in the SAP Ariba applications of Guided Buying, Guided Sourcing and Supplier Management.

Please note that AI copilot Joule in the aforementioned products will be in Early Access until September 19th, 2025 at which time it will be made generally available to customers.

For a complete list of Transactional and Navigational Joule skills which are available per application area, view our new blog: Joule 2508 Release Key Innovations

SAP Ariba Category Management Highlights

Ability to Set an Initiative as Obsolete in SAP Ariba Category Management (ARBCATA-463)

Keeping your workspace organized is essential for focus and efficiency. With this feature you can now manually mark outdated initiatives as obsolete, easily closing those that are no longer relevant. This means your team will see only initiatives that matter, reducing clutter and helping everyone prioritize more effectively.

Additionally, the Initiatives Overview page now allows you to filter by multiple phases—including the Obsolete phase—so you can quickly get the view you need and keep data clean and actionable.

Standardized and Detailed Category Risk Assessment (ARBCATA-489)

Risk management is fundamental to strong category strategies. With this feature , the risk assessment tool has been enhanced so administrators can define standardized risk types for evaluation across all purchasing categories.

The new Risk Types page on the Strategy and Plan tab

Category managers can now identify, score, and qualify each risk in detail, with information like cause, impact, and mitigation strategies.

The New Risk page that appears when you click Create on the Risk Assessment page now includes 3 sections: Assessment, Details, and Mitigation. These scores contribute to an overall risk score at the strategy and plan level, which reflects the combined risk across category, timeframe, business unit, and region. This gives category managers a structured, repeatable approach to assessing category supporting informed decision-making at every level.

The Risk Assessment page now displays a Risk Assessment Matrix and Risks table.

Ability to Select Tool Documents for AI-generated Category Strategy Recommendations (CATMAN-16)

Now that it’s possible (with the above feature) to create multiple Cost Structure and Market Dynamics documents, this new AI-driven strategy recommendations allows you to choose which Cost Structure and Market Dynamics documents to include, ensuring the insights you receive are tailored to your specific business needs. This accelerates the development of effective strategies, minimizing revisions and aligning recommendations with your goals.

You can now choose specific Cost Structure and Market Dynamics documents when generating recommendations for category strategy details, in cases where multiple tool documents are linked to a strategy and plan document

For further details on these innovations and more, view our new blog: Category Management 2508 Release Key Innovations

Highlights from Source-to-Contract

SAP Ariba Contracts Integration with WalkMe (SCONTR-1444)

This feature facilitates the integration between SAP Ariba Contracts and the WalkMe Digital Adoption Platform. Through this integration, buyers receive on-demand guidance from WalkMe for several commonly used workflows within SAP Ariba Contracts.

This enables organizations to accelerate user adoption of technology, boost productivity, and maximize the value of enterprise software investments.

Smart walk-throughs powered by WalkMe are available for the following workflows within SAP Ariba Contracts:

Creating a contract workspace
Importing line items into a contract workspace using the Simplified Excel Import functionality
Creating contract workspace templates

Managing Baseline and Supplier Contracts for Pre-Award Negotiation in Icertis Contract Intelligence for SAP Ariba Solutions (SCONTR-1499)

If your organization uses Icertis Contract Intelligence (ICI) alongside SAP Ariba, you can now manage both baseline and supplier contracts directly in Icertis during pre-award negotiations.

We've also improved the APIs so that developers can easily copy data from one contract workspace to another.

Display Remaining Time for Line Items in Bid Console for Guided Sourcing Auctions and Competitive RFPs (SOURCE-2544)

This feature enables buyers to view the remaining time for line items and lots within the Bid Console page and is applicable to guided sourcing events such as English forward auctions, English reverse auctions, and competitive RFPs.

Timing matters! The bid console now clearly shows how much time is left per line item (or lot) during auctions and RFPs.

The changes are applicable for competitive RFP, Auction, Reverse auction bid console screens. For Japanese, dutch auctions the new column Time remaining will not show and the watch screen timer values will not change.

For further details on these innovations and more, view our blog: Source-to-Contract 2508 Release Key Innovations

Highlights from Procure-to-Order

AI Copilot Joule in Guided Buying (GUIDEB-1163) - GA September 19th

AI copilot Joule in Guided Buying features a conversational interface designed to help users complete tasks efficiently. It leverages generative and other AI technologies to understand natural language requests, identify user intent, perform actions, and provide valuable insights.

With Joule, you can easily access information such as:

Requisition approval status
Requisition details
Recent purchases

You can find the Joule panel by clicking on the icon at the top of your screen. This release is just the beginning of our journey to harness AI across buying processes, driving significant efficiency gains and more for our entire user base.

Please note that AI copilot Joule in Guided Buying will be in Early Access until September 19th, 2025 at which time it will be made generally available to customers

For more detailed information please see this blog: Joule in SAP Ariba Applications

Enhancements to WalkMe in Guided Buying (GUIDEB-1266)

We were excited to announce the first iteration of WalkMe in Guided Buying in the last release (2505), now to build on this momentum with an important user experience enhancement.

The WalkMe Digital Adoption Platform is now enabled for all Guided Buying customers and the WalkMe panel can now display content from SAP Companion also through some subtle UI changes.

If both WalkMe and SAP Companion are enabled, the walk me panel now displays a separate tab for each respectively:

Previously, WalkMe was disabled by default, and SAP Companion content displayed in a different panel.

This innovation offers more flexibility, allowing you to use the right resources and support at the right time in the most suitable way. It will help guide you seamlessly through your desired procurement processes and drive better outcomes.

For further details on these innovations and more, view our blog: Procure-to-Order 2508 Release Key Innovations

Highlights from Central Invoice Management

Enriched Filtering Capabilities for the Invoice List (CIM-2270)

We know that dealing with large volumes of invoices can be challenging, especially when you need to find that one specific invoice or group relevant data for reporting and analysis. With our latest release, we’re streamlining this process even further.

Within the invoice list you can use the Adapt Filters button to add several new filters to the filter bar. For additional information on how to adapt filters in the invoice list, see Adapting Filters and Creating Variants. The following filters are now available:

Company Code Country/Region
Supplier Country/Region
Purchase Order

The new filters allow you to search the invoice list more precisely and accurately as seen in the image below:

Posting Date Automatically Updated During Automatic Processing (CIM-2920)

For organizations that use automatic processing for invoices in SAP Ariba, you likely set a default posting date—often the current date—when invoices are automatically submitted. With our new enhancement, if you have defined the default posting date as the current date, the system now dynamically updates the posting date to the exact current date right before the invoice is submitted.

We understand that sometimes, there may be a delay between when automatic processing starts and when an invoice is actually submitted. In the past, this gap meant an invoice could end up with a posting date that was out of alignment with the real submission time, potentially causing confusion or even issues with financial reporting or compliance.

With the new enhancement, the posting date will always reflect the true date of submission—even if the process experiences minor delays. This change can have a major impact for finance and accounting teams.

Submission of Invoices Enriched by Data Attribute Recommendation (CIM-2965)

With this feature, changes have been made to the automatic submission process for invoices enriched by data attribute recommendation. Now, when the confidence threshold for fields enriched by data attribute recommendation is between 0.5 and 0.7, the automatic submission is stopped, and you can review the fields within the invoice on the invoice detail page. You can then manually submit the invoice or adjust the invoice before submitting.

Data attribute recommendation can automatically enrich and complete the following fields in draft invoices:

G/L Account
Cost Center
WBS Element

Data attribute recommendation is a machine learning service that is trained with a set of invoices that you select. Once data attribute recommendation is trained and activated, SAP Ariba CIM can automatically complete missing fields in draft invoices using the data learned during the training.

For further details on these innovations and more, view our blog: Central Invoice Management 2508 Release Key Innovations

Highlights from Supplier Management & Risk

Supplier Management Integration with WalkMe (SLP-2265)
This feature integrates SAP Ariba Supplier Lifecycle and Performance and SAP Ariba Supplier Information and Performance Management (new architecture) with WalkMe Digital Adoption Platform. Users can take advantage of easy-to-understand guidance powered by WalkMe.

Supplier Management WalkMe integration includes several standard smart walk-throughs from SAP Ariba for common workflows. Customers can also choose to develop their own content by first purchasing WalkMe Premium for SAP Ariba solutions. For more information about WalkMe Premium for SAP Ariba solutions, see https://walkme.com

If you have an SAP Companion help system enabled, its help content remains available.

View implementation details and more here.

AI Copilot Joule in Supplier Management (SLP-2258)
Joule, SAP's generative AI copilot, is now available in supplier management. Joule uses a conversational interface to help users complete tasks efficiently. It leverages generative and other AI technologies to understand natural language requests, identify intent, perform actions, and provide insights. Using generative AI, it can execute tasks, deliver tailored responses, and summarize information effectively.

(IMPORTANT: AI Copilot Joule in SAP Ariba Supplier Lifecycle and Performance will be in early access until September 19th, 2025, at which time it will be made generally available to customers.)

View implementation details and more here.

For the list of tasks that you can perform using Joule, refer to the topic Joule Capabilities in Supplier Management.

Option to Join the SAP User Research Panel (SRISK-1771)
This feature provides you an option to join the SAP User Research Panel, where you can share your thoughts and ideas to enhance SAP Ariba Supplier Risk and other SAP products you currently use.

View implementation details and more here.

Risk Exposure Summary Report Displays Overall Residual and Inherent Risk Levels (SRISK-1763)

This feature provides information about the inherent and residual risk levels of suppliers in the Risk Exposure Summary report. This crucial information aids in making informed decisions when engaging with suppliers.

In addition to the existing risk exposure information, the Risk Exposure Summary report now includes two additional columns to provide inherent and residual risk level information for the suppliers you monitor in SAP Ariba Supplier Risk.

Changes to the User Interface - Currently, the Risk Exposure Summary report summarizes the overall risk exposure, and category-wise risk exposure such as legal and regulatory, environmental and social, and operational risk exposure. This enhancement introduces two additional columns to display overall inherent risk level and residual risk level information for the suppliers you monitor in SAP Ariba Supplier Risk.

View implementation details and more here.

For further details on these innovations and more, view our blog: Supplier Management & Risk 2508 Release Key Innovations

These innovations aim to significantly enhance your procurement and sourcing capabilities, leading to improved efficiency, data-driven insights, and strengthened supplier relationships.

Stay connected with our community for more insights and updates:

Register for the Early Release Series for 2508 release (August 12-14, 2025)
Resources

Feature related materials:

SAP Ariba Connect - Release Readiness (Customers except CIM)
Readiness Community page (For CIM customers)

SAP Community for Intelligent Spend Management page
SAP Help Portal pages - Procurement and Network
What’s New
SAP Products and Services YouTube channel - https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLWV533hWWvDk7zRbhOsWQkF5BGWokhHYH
"Spend Management and Business Network" playlist - https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PL3ZRUb1AKkpSPtGOGv41NrN_6_WwyiYrF&si=29zqqpUPaRoKUvU4
Make sure to check out our other blogs and subscribe to all of our authors to keep up-to-date with the latest and greatest innovations!

Transform Procurement with the SAP Ariba Business AI Accelerator

2025-08-12T07:24:42.409000+02:00

Gordon Donovan's, Global Vice President Research, Procurement & External Workforce at SAP, recent conversations with the Procurement Leaders, clearly states that we are currently living in a world of "Polycrisis" - a mix of geopolitical, environment and macroeconomics risks, where Procurement is right on the front lines. Instead of just focusing on cost savings, the role of procurement has become one of Risk Management and Strategic Value Creation and AI plays a critical role in making this shift possible.

These conversations emphasis that AI is a not a buzz word but is a critical tool for facing today's reality. The procurement leaders have pointed out the few key areas where AI plays a major role:

Enhanced Risk Management and Resilience
Strategic Decision-Making and Optimization
Automation and Productivity
Data-Driven Supplier Management

Ultimately, Donovan's discussions show that AI is not just about efficiency; it's about giving procurement leaders the intelligence and agility they need to thrive in a world full of interconnected risks. The real power of AI lies in its ability to transform procurement into a function that can anticipate and respond to change, rather than simply reacting to it.

We have the McKinsey's 2024-2025 research which supports these conversations. AI is set to drive and redefine how the procurement operates, arrive at decisions and deliver value in an Organization. Their findings show that organizations where AI has been adopted early, they are seeing:

Up to 30% faster sourcing cycles
5–10% reductions in spend
Over 20% improvements in contract compliance
Significant reduction in manual exception handling

These Research also identifies four important areas where adopting AI can make a major impact:

Spend analysis and bundling strategies
Supplier performance evaluation and ESG monitoring
Automated RFP creation and negotiation
Reducing value leakage across the Source-to-Pay cycle

Source (https://www.mckinsey.com/capabilities/operations/our-insights/revolutionizing-procurement-leveraging-data-and-ai-for-strategic-advantage

https://www.mckinsey.com/capabilities/operations/our-insights/where-is-procurement-heading-in-the-next-ten-years

https://www.mckinsey.com/capabilities/operations/our-insights/procurement-2025-reimagining-the-function-for-success)

SAP Ariba's embedded capabilities align closely with these areas, and it goes beyond when supported by SAP Joule and the Business AI Accelerator Service in Preferred Success.

Where AI Is Already Delivering Value in SAP Ariba

SAP Ariba was already into the AI Journey before generative AI became the focus in the technology world. The Solution was enabling meaningful automation through traditional Machine Learning AI. The functionalities are already live and in use today.

Guided Sourcing

Smart Event Creation helps sourcing leads get started faster by recommending event templates based on historical data
Supplier Recommendations suggest relevant, qualified suppliers using profile matching and past performance insights

The result: shorter sourcing cycles, better supplier outcomes, and more informed decisions.

Guided Buying

Personalized Product Recommendations surface the most relevant items for each user based on behaviors and role
Catalog Item Matching offers compliant alternatives when users search for off-catalog or non-preferred items

The result: increased compliance, reduced maverick spend, and a better buying experience overall.

These use cases represent just a portion of what’s possible. SAP’s AI in Procurement site offers a more comprehensive view for teams looking to explore beyond the basics: Visit SAP AI for Procurement

The Business AI Accelerator Service: What it is and why it matters?

The Business AI Accelerator Service in the Preferred Success isn't about introducing the Organizations to the new technology that is available in the solution. It’s a structured service which is designed to help organizations to start their journey with AI along with their SAP Solutions. It helps them to put AI into action by starting with the embedded capabilities and extending more strategic use cases through custom use case ideation.

Why customers use it:

To align AI initiatives with business goals
To identify use cases with measurable value
To understand how to implement AI responsibly
To support users through the transition with change enablement

What it includes:

SAP Business AI Essentials

We start with foundational education: What AI is (and isn’t), how it’s already embedded in SAP solutions, and how our Co-Pilot, SAP Joule enhance procurement operations.

Governance and Ethics Enablement

We provide a framework to ensure that AI initiatives are compliant, transparent, and aligned with SAP’s global principles for ethical AI. That includes privacy, fairness, and human oversight.

Change Management Support

Success with AI isn’t just about data—it’s about people. We provide guidance on how to prepare procurement teams for AI-driven workflows and address the common challenges in adoption

Use Case Discovery Workshop

In this session, we work with your team to identify pain points, assess feasibility, and prioritize use cases that deliver near-term ROI. This is a highly interactive, business-first discussion.

Where to Start:

You don’t need to perfectly define the plan to start the AI journey, our Business AI Accelerator service is designed to meet you on wherever you are in the AI Journey. Whether you're just brainstorming potential use cases or you've already got some ideas you want to validate, this service provides the clarity and expert guidance you need to move forward with confidence.

If you already have Preferred Success subscription for SAP Ariba, then starting with the service is easy. Reach out to your Customer Success Manager to learn more and schedule the sessions to help you unlock and start your AI Journey.

If you are not a Preferred Success Customer yet, simply get in touch with your SAP Partner or Account Representative. They can walk you through the available options to join the program and unlock this, and many other, valuable services.

Learn more about SAP Preferred Success and how it helps customers accelerate outcomes and reduce transformation risk

SAP UX Q3/2025 Update – Part 5: SAP Ariba and SAP Fieldglass

2025-08-20T07:30:00.022000+02:00

This fifth post in my series gives an overview of latest UX innovations in SAP Ariba and SAP Fieldglass, products for managing your spend (procurement) and external workforce. For SAP Ariba: Joule is now available for selected products, on-boarding guidance is provided by WalkMe, and we have some additional AI-assistance in SAP Ariba Category Management, amongst other enhancements. For SAP Fieldglass, Joule is now available too, and the SOW (Statement of Work) dashboard can now be adapted per user role, ensuring that users see what fits best for them. Also, you can now use generative AI for importing SOWs from documents.

SAP Ariba

Here are the recent UX innovations that I have picked:

On-boarding guidance via WalkMe Digital Adoption Platform.
Joule, our AI copilot, available for selected SAP Ariba products.
UX enhancements in Category Management: Supplier preferencing, Strategy and Plan enhancements for collaboration and AI-insights, plus some more minor enhancements in details.
Integration of the SAP User Research Panel into selected products’ built-in user feedback surveys.

On-boarding guidance via WalkMe

When new employees join the procurement team, we now make it easier for them to get up and running with SAP Ariba by providing enhanced step-by-step guidance on how to get typical tasks done in the system. With the 2508 release, we provide WalkMe for the following SAP Ariba products:

SAP Ariba Buying
SAP Ariba Buying and Invoicing
SAP Ariba Contracts
SAP Ariba Invoice Management
SAP Ariba Sourcing
SAP Ariba Supplier Lifecycle and Performance
SAP Ariba Supplier Risk

WalkMe offers engaging, intuitive, role-based guidance to help user quickly achieve value by minimizing barriers during initial use of the product and creating a great first experience. Figure 1 gives you an idea of what this looks like, showing first the list of activities available for the current user context within SAP Ariba Sourcing, and then an example of one of the guidance steps (the fourth step after the user had selected “Create a guided sourcing project”).

Figure 1: An example of WalkMe for SAP Ariba Sourcing. Alt Text: two cut-outs from screenshots are shown. On the left the WalkMe panel lists two options “Create a sourcing project” and “Create a guided sourcing event”. On the right, the UI for “Create guided sourcing project” is shown with a pop-over explaining the options for a selecting either a “Single event” or a “Full project”, and explaining why the system has pre-selected “Full project”.

In the guided sourcing capability for SAP Ariba Sourcing, Walkthroughs are available for the following tasks:

Create a guided sourcing project.
Create a guided souring event.
Create a guided sourcing event in a project.
Invite suppliers.

Check out the video below to see WalkMe in action in guided sourcing, and find out more in the documentation:

Video: Explore Guided Sourcing Events with WalkMe (3:35 min.)
Documentation: WalkMe Available in SAP Ariba Products.

You can go one step further and provide content tailored to your organization by purchasing WalkMe Premium for SAP Ariba Solutions. For more information about WalkMe Premium for SAP Ariba, visit the WalkMe home page.

Joule for SAP Ariba

With the 2508 release, Joule, our AI copilot, is now available for:

Supplier management.
Guided sourcing.
Guided buying.

Figure 2 shows an example of what it looks like when you open up Joule in guided buying, where it provides suggestions for what you could ask. These suggestions are clickable, but you can of course type in your text directly.

Figure 2: Joule for guided buying. Alt Text: An image showing Joule after it has been opened for the first time, with the text “Hello Jitesh, How can I guide you?” at the top. The bottom half contains the chat area, with the text “Get started with Joule” followed by a selection of five suggestions as clickable buttons, such as “Approvers of a requisition”, at the very bottom the input field for the user to message Joule is shown.

The currently availabe capabilities are listed in the documentation:

Please note that AI copilot Joule in Guided Buying will be in Early Access until September 19th, 2025 at which time it is planned to be made generally available to customers.

UX Enhancements in SAP Ariba Category Management

This section covers UX enhancements for supplier preferencing, Strategy and Plan enhancements for collaboration and AI-insights, and provides a link to more UX enhancements in detail.

Supplier Preferencing

When buying from various suppliers, it’s good to know how these suppliers view their relationship with your company. Do they value your custom highly? Or at the opposite extreme, do they see you as a nuisance, i.e. low volume but high effort and hence unprofitable?

Supplier preferencing is an established approach that helps organizations understand how they are perceived by vendors. By leveraging this insight, businesses can strengthen supplier relationships, foster collaboration, and improve supply chain effectiveness.

Supplier preferencing involves evaluating how suppliers view a buying organization based on two key dimensions:

Attractiveness of Account: How appealing the buying organization is to the supplier, influenced by factors like reputation, growth potential, and ease of doing business.
Relative Value of Business: The monetary value or strategic importance the buying organization's spend brings to the supplier.

Each dimension can be assessed as “high” or “low”, resulting in four possible categories Core, Development, Nuisance and Exploitable, as explained in the

Documentation: Supplier Preferencing.

We now provide an intuitive user experience for buyers to apply supplier preferencing very easily, and get an easy to understand overview for each supplier and for each strategy and plan you have created for buying from that supplier. Figure 3 shows an example for a fictitious supplier called SpeedShip, where the outcome of assessments for various strategy and plans are shown.

Figure 3: Supplier preferencing example in SAP Ariba Category Management. Alt Text: A screenshot of the Develop Strategy and Plan app with a pop-over showing with a heading “SpeedShip”, below that four tabs “Overview”, “Performance”, “SWOT” and “Supplier Preferencing” (selected). The pop-over summarizes the supplier as “Nuisance”, with a timestamp of last update, and shows a list of Assessments.

Figure 4 shows an extract of the questionnaire which employees can fill out in order to assess the supplier preference.

Figure 4: Supplier preferencing questionnaire in SAP Ariba Category Management. Alt Text: A screenshot of the Develop Strategy and Plan app with a pop-over showing part of a Supplier Preferencing Assessment Questionnaire, with yes/no questions on the attractiveness of account, such as “Do you see our organization as a potential strategic partner in the industry?”.

Strategy and Plan: Collaborate Externally by Sharing Plans as PDF

Now, Category Managers can share their strategy and plan documents with stakeholders who do not have access to SAP Ariba Category Management, by exporting them to a PDF file.

Stakeholders can review the strategy and plan outside of SAP Ariba Category Management, provide input, follow its direction, and consider it when developing related strategies. The exported file contains the most relevant content from all tools organized into pages so it can also be used as slide deck. Figure 5 shows the export screen, with parts of the first two pages with text summary and details, and Figure 6 shows how charts and tables are nicely presented as a page within the PDF file.

Figure 5: Creating a PDF file for the category strategy and plan within SAP Ariba Category Management, for sharing with stakeholders. Alt Text: A screenshot of the application Category Strategy and Plan with a pop-over for exporting to PDF. The left two thirds of the pop-over shows a preview of the PDF, showing the Strategy and Plan Summary, the right third shows settings for formatting and exporting.

Figure 6: An example PDF page from the exported category strategy and plan for sharing with stakeholders, from SAP Ariba Category Management. Alt Text: A screenshot showing a pop-over displaying one PDF page with eight cards, the top row of four cards showing charts for Spend, Top Suppliers, Top Regions, Top Subcategories, the bottom row showing lists for the values depicted in the charts.

AI-Assisted Summary for Strategy and Plan

As a category manager, you can use generative AI capabilities for generating a summary in the approval document. AI-enhanced summaries provide a quick overview, highlighting key points without the need to manually review details across all sections of the approval documents. You can refine these summaries and then submit the document for approval. Figure 7 shows an example of such a summary.

Figure 7: AI-generated strategy and plan summary in SAP Ariba Category Management. Alt Text: A screenshot of the Strategy Summary section of the Develop Strategy and Plan application, showing a full width editable text field containing text in sections “Market Dynamics”, “Category Segmentation”, “Cost Structures”. On the right above the section an AI button “Generate” is shown.

Additional enhancements

We have made some additional smaller enhancements to UI details, which improve the user’s experience. They are documented here:

SAP Ariba Category Management User Interface Enhancements.

Integration of the SAP User Research Panel

Getting feedback from the actual users of an application is key in order to continuously improve the user experience, and we are intensifying our efforts to reach the real users of our products, rather than the IT departmens who buy them. The SAP User Research Panel gives users the opportunity to sign-up to give feedback to SAP directly. We launched it nearly two years ago, see for example Your voice matters! Join the SAP User Research Panel. Since then many users across all areas have signed up.

We would like to encourage users of SAP Ariba to sign up too, and to make this easier, we have introduced a direct link to it from the user feedback survey. Users of SAP Ariba Category Management and SAP Ariba Supplier Risk occasionally receive a popup with a short survey asking for feedback on the product. Now, at the end of this survey, they are offered a link to sign up to the user resarch panel.

Find out more in the documentation:

Further Information

For an overview of the key innovations with the 2508 release of SAP Ariba, have a look at this blog post:

SAP Ariba 2508 Release Key Innovations Preview.

SAP Fieldglass

Joule is now available for SAP Fieldglass, the Statement of Work (SOW) dashboard has been enhanced to allow role-specific customized views, and you can now use generative AI for importing SOWs from documents.

Joule for SAP Fieldglass

Our AI copilot Joule helps users for these specific activities:

Selecting job posting templates
Selecting statement of work templates
Completing work items
Viewing quarterly trends
Running reports
Closing workers
Searching help content

As an example of how Joule makes work easier for users, consider finding the right template for a job posting: rather than scanning through available templates, you can just give Joule the position or project, a description, and a few other details, and Joule will provide recommendations for which template to use. Once you have chosen a template, Joule can auto-populate some of the fields, speeding the process up for you.

You can also use Joule for analytical queries: as Joule to show you quarterly trends, and Joule will show you them in the form of graphs embedded within the Joule UI.

Figure 8 shows Joule when first opened in SAP Fieldglass, with hints as clickable buttons for what you can ask for.

Figure 8: Joule in SAP Fieldglass. Alt Text: An image showing Joule after it has been opened for the first time, with the text “Hello Jennifer, How can I guide you?” at the top. The bottom half contains the chat area, with the text “Get started with Joule” followed by a selection of five suggestions as clickable buttons, such as “Create Job Posting”, at the very bottom the input field for the user to message Joule is shown.

Look at the documentation for more information:

Joule in SAP Fieldglass

SOW Dashboard with Customizable Views

Effective Statement of Work (SOW) management requires real-time access to critical details like spend activity, service delivery progress, and pending action items. This helps track overall SOW progress, maintain budget control, and enable informed decision-making. Last year, we introduced the SOW Dashboard, providing a comprehensive real-time view of critical SOW data (see my last year’s blog post).

Users in different business roles need to interact with the SOW, and each role has a unique set of details relevant to them for overseeing the health of the SOW. Now, the SOW dashboard supports customized views based on user roles, which streamlines the information displayed, so that users see only what is most relevant to them. Hence, they get a more focused and efficient experience tailored to their unique needs

Figure 9 shows an example of the SOW Dashboard set up for a user focused on project status and task management. Figure 10 shows an example for a user focused on financials and spend task management.

Figure 9: SAP Fieldglass SOW dashboard customized for users focused on project status and task management. Alt Text: A screenshot of SOW Dashboard showing four cards “SOW Activity Items”, “SOW Line Items”, “SOW Worker Activity Items” and “Upcoming SOW Worker End Dates”. The first three are represented as lists, with color-coded summaries of items that are critical and that have warnings, the fourth shows a 2D visualization with no. of SOW workers on the y-axis and time remaining (days) on the x-axis.

Figure 10: SAP Fieldglass SOW dashboard customized for users focused on financials and spend task management. Alt Text: A screenshot of SOW Dashboard showing four cards “SOW with Largest Budgets”, “Deviations in Actual Spend”, “SOW Spend & Duration Alterts”, and “SOW Revisions”. The first two are represented as charts, the other two as lists.

SOW AI-Assisted Document Extraction

No matter how good the software, having to manually copy data from a document into a system to create a Statement of Work (SOW) does not rank as a great experience for most people! Now, we have significantly improved the user experience by leveraging generative AI to automate a lot of this work.

SAP Fieldglass has integrated SAP Document AI, so that users can automate the extraction and transformation of statement of work content from uploaded documents. This combined AI approach parses the source files, identifies relevant content, and generates a structured, accurate draft statement of work, reducing manual effort while improving data consistency and completeness. Figure 10 shows how users now have the new AI-enabled workflow option for creating a statement of work.

Figure 11: New AI-enabled option for creating a statement of work in SAP Fieldglass. Alt Text: A screenshot of a pop-over “Create Statement of Work” containing two clickable cards: on the left “Standard Workflow” and description “Manually enter and select the details for this Statement of Work”, on the right with an AI icon “Upload Document Workflow” and description “Select a file for AI to read and populate Statement of Work details.”

Once the document has been processed, you can open the drafted statement of work to view the outcome: the AI icon appears next to sections of the document to indicate fields with content extracted using AI.

Find out more in the documentation:

Documentation: SOW DOX (Document Extraction).

Further Information

Have a look at all the latest updates, month by month, in the

What’s New Viewer for SAP Fieldglass.

Continue Reading - UX Innovations in SAP Customer Experience and SAP Concur

I hope you enjoyed this fifth part, covering SAP Ariba and SAP Fieldglass. Here is the link to part six, covering latest UX innovations for selling and travel with SAP Customer Experience and SAP Concur:

SAP UX Q3/2025 Update – Part 6: SAP Customer Experience and SAP Concur.

Part 1 of the series lists all the parts, and links to those parts that have already been published:

SAP User Experience Q3/2025 Update – Part 1: Many New Innovations Available (AI, Joule and More).

Do keep posting your experiences and recommendations yourself in the SAP Community, with the SAP Fiori and/or the User Experience tag! In case you are wondering how to get a list of the most recent blog posts on SAP Fiori and User Experience in our new SAP Community, use these links:

For general information on design at SAP and SAP Fiori, check out:

SAP Ariba Supplier Management & Risk 2508 Release Key Innovations Preview

2025-08-25T11:27:49.276000+02:00

If you have an SAP Companion help system enabled, its help content remains available.

View implementation details and more here.

(IMPORTANT: AI Copilot Joule in SAP Ariba Supplier Lifecycle and Performance will be in early access until September 19th, 2025, at which time it will be made generally available to customers.)

View implementation details and more here.

For the list of tasks that you can perform using Joule, refer to the topic Joule Capabilities in Supplier Management.

Displaying Comments when Updates are Requested for a Modular Questionnaire (SLP-2272)
Modular questionnaires allow continuous updates or permanently close after the submitted answers are first approved or denied. Requesting an update reopens the questionnaire so that the recipient can update it once. When you request an update to a modular questionnaire and enter an (optional) comment about the update request, the comment along with its timestamp is now displayed in the Comments section of the modular questionnaire.For example, the comment is displayed in this manner: "UserXYZ has requested an update for questionnaireABC".

View implementation details and more here.

Supplier Risk Engagements API Retrieves Inherent Risk Screening Questionnaire Information (SRISK-1415)
This feature introduces a new version of the Supplier Risk Engagements API. In addition to the other existing capabilities, this new version lets you retrieve questionnaires, answers, and answer types of inherent risk screening questionnaires to provide better insights to plan your organization's operational needs.

View implementation details and more here.

SAP Ariba Supplier Risk Integration with WalkMe (SRISK-1714)
This feature integrates SAP Ariba Supplier Risk with WalkMe Digital Adoption Platform. Users can take advantage of easy-to-understand guidance powered by WalkMe.

View implementation details and more here.

Supplier Risk Engagements API Retrieves Domain-Based Residual Risk Score (SRISK-1731)
This feature enables Supplier Risk Engagements API to retrieve domain-based residual risk score for Information Security, Data Privacy, and Compliance domains at the control, engagement, and supplier levels.

View implementation details and more here.

Risk Exposure Summary Report Displays Overall Residual and Inherent Risk Levels (SRISK-1763)

View implementation details and more here.

Stay connected with our community for more insights and updates:

Register for the Early Release Series for 2508 release (August 12-14, 2025)
Resources

Feature related materials:

SAP Ariba Connect - Release Readiness (Customers except CIM)
Readiness Community page (For CIM customers)

SAP Community for Intelligent Spend Management page
SAP Help Portal pages - Procurement and Network
What’s New
SAP Products and Services YouTube channel - https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLWV533hWWvDk7zRbhOsWQkF5BGWokhHYH
"Spend Management and Business Network" playlist - https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PL3ZRUb1AKkpSPtGOGv41NrN_6_WwyiYrF&si=29zqqpUPaRoKUvU4

Make sure to check out our other blogs and subscribe to our authors to keep up-to-date with the latest and greatest innovations!

Future-Proofing Procurement: How Trustpair and SAP Are Fighting Vendor Payment Fraud

2025-09-24T16:45:33.476000+02:00

🚨 The Rising Tide of Vendor Payment Fraud

Fraudsters have evolved—from impersonating CFOs over the phone to deploying sophisticated cyberattacks and AI-powered deepfakes. The most common tactic? Business Email Compromise (BEC), where attackers hijack legitimate vendor email domains to redirect payments to fraudulent accounts.

Manual callbacks and email verifications are no longer enough. As Baptiste explains, “There’s no way to know if the person on the phone is real. You need to trust your data—not your gut.”

🔍 Why Vendor Onboarding Is the Frontline of Defense

Vendor onboarding is the gateway to your organization’s financial ecosystem. If this process is flawed, every subsequent step—from accounts payable to treasury—is vulnerable. Trustpair tackles this head-on by validating vendor data and bank account ownership across 190 countries, ensuring accuracy and security from day one.

Their platform integrates seamlessly with SAP Ariba and other ERP systems, automating validation and reducing onboarding time by up to 90%.

📊 Data, People, Tools: The Fraud Triangle

According to Baptiste, fraud happens when three elements collide:

Complex tools that don’t communicate
Siloed teams across procurement, AP, and treasury
Unverified data that decays over time

Trustpair’s solution breaks down these silos, creating a unified risk cockpit that empowers teams to act on real-time insights. “You become smart because you have a full picture over the entire office of the CFO,” Baptiste notes.

🌍 Global Compliance and Continuous Validation

With vendors spanning continents, compliance isn’t just a checkbox—it’s a challenge. Trustpair connects to local data repositories and banks worldwide, alerting clients to data decay and fraudulent changes. This ensures that vendor data remains accurate throughout the relationship lifecycle.

🤖 AI and the Future of Fraud Prevention

Fraudsters are investing in AI. So should you. Trustpair leverages machine learning to flag anomalies, automate risk evaluations, and scale fraud detection across millions of transactions. Their platform has processed over 15 million bank account validations, delivering zero fraud for 400+ global enterprises over eight years.

💡 Strategic Value Beyond Security

Beyond fraud prevention, Trustpair enhances vendor relationships, streamlines compliance, and supports digital transformation. By integrating with SAP’s suite-first and AI-first strategy, it helps organizations prepare for the future of intelligent procurement.

🔮 What’s Next?

As Baptiste predicts, “Fraud will be everywhere. The future lies in monitoring data across every system, ensuring trust at every step.” Clean data isn’t just a security measure—it’s the foundation for leveraging AI and driving business efficiency.

📢 Ready to secure your procurement process? Learn more about how SAP and Trustpair are partnering to build fraud-proof, data-driven procurement ecosystems.

🎧 Listen to the full episode: The Future of Procurement: Episode 019

🔗 #VendorFraud #ProcureToPay #SAPAriba #Trustpair #FraudPrevention #AIinProcurement #DigitalTransformation #CleanData #FinanceSecurity #FutureOfProcurement

SAP Ariba Procurement Solutions for Lifesciences & Healthcare customers

2025-10-06T18:43:00.248000+02:00

In this post, we consider a common usecase for pharmaceutical companies: the procurement of Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (APIs) from approved contract manufacturers (CMO) or suppliers.

User Story

As a production planner in a mid-size pharmaceutical company, I need to procure an API only from approved manufacturers (CMO), verify the regulatory documents for completeness, correctness, and validity, so that the purchase can be processed without compliance risks or delays.

Personas Involved

Production Planner (using MM on ERP)
Category Buyer (Using SAP Ariba Category Management )
Quality Assurance Approver (using SAP Ariba Supplier Lifecycle and Performance & SAP Ariba Supplier Risk )
Supplier Manufacturer (using the SAP Business Network for Suppliers )
Supplier Risk Analyst (using SAP Ariba Supplier Risk)
AP Invoice Processor (SAP Ariba Invoicing

System Recommendations & Assumptions

Supplier/Contract Manufacturer can be sourced using Ariba Guided Sourcing and onboarded using SAP Ariba SLP , continuously monitored for risks (ESG, financial, regulatory, etc.) using SAP Ariba Supplier Risk.

Possibility to invite customers for a sourcing event in SAP Ariba Sourcing, based on their qualification and risk status as well as ability to fulfill the business n
At the end of the sourcing event, a supplier will be selected.

The Supplier 360 dashboard on SLP can be used to view supplier details.

Suppliers can be qualified and registered using SLP, where status, certification information, risk information, etc., can be maintained and viewed. GxP relevant certificates (GMP certificate, DMF/CEP references, country-specific permits) can be used for supplier qualification.
Contracts can be created using baseline contract templates in Ariba.
The API material can be maintained in ERP with a unique material code. Manufacturer’s substance codes and parent-child code mappings can also be maintained in ERP.

End-to-end Flow ( Considering PR originates in ERP, for direct material procurement)

ERP:
- MRP run creates a PR for API-12345 for supplier AKME Systems for 50 kgs with a delivery deadline of 4 weeks
PR Sent to Ariba Buying/Guided Buying :
- The PR is sent to Ariba Buying/Guided Buying for collaboration and approvals.
- Information related to parent-child codes mapping, a reference list of approved suppliers, etc. is also sent.
Category Buyer Review :
- The category buyer in Ariba Guided Buying reviews the PR and confirms the supplier/manufacturer pairing.
- Custom fields display required information like manufacturer's codes, parent code, DMF, etc.
QA Approval :
- As part of QA approval, following checks could be considered:
  - Ensuring the CMO/supplier is approved in SLP and not expired,
  - Verification parent-child codes match the ERP records,
  - Validation of country permits,
  - Verification of other documents and certificates like GXP relevant, FDA approval, etc.

If all checks are fine, then PR will be approved, else returned with comments.

PO Creation in Ariba Guided Buying :
- A PO is created in Guided Buying and sent to the supplier via SAP Business Network / SCC.
- It is possible to add conditions to ensure that no PO is created without QA approval.

Ariba Buying for creating PO

Supplier Confirmation via SAP Business Network/SCC:
- The supplier confirms PO quantities and delivery dates.
- Provides a shipment plan and ASN (Advance Ship Notice) with batch number, expected lot (UoM), CoA (Certificate of Analysis), other certificates relevant for GMP, export/import permits, etc.

SAP Business Network

Supplier can also proactively create Quality Notifications in SAP Business Network / SCC, in order to communicate to the buyer about quality issues like defects in the products, non-confirming items, etc.

S/4HANA or ERP Processing :
- The integration with S/4 HANA ensures that the confirmation and ASN data is received by the production planner.
- The Quality Assurance Approver also receives notification using QM.
Goods Receipt in S/4HANA :
- GR is posted by the warehouse for received batches.
Supplier PO-Flip on the SAP Business Network/SCC :
- The supplier can perform PO-flip and send the invoice electronically.
- Ariba Invoicing runs 3-way match (PO,GR,Invoice). If the match is successful, invoice is posted for payment.
Auditing and Reporting :
- An audit trail of approvals, documents and timestamps is maintained for auditing and reporting purpose in Ariba.
- integration with SAP Analytics Dashboard also helps the buyer in accessing analytical reports and checking various metrics.
Continuous Risk Monitoring :
- SAP Ariba Supplier Risk performs 24/7 monitoring for geopolitical risks, social & environmental risks, financial risks like bankruptcy, cyber threats, sanctions list changes, etc.
- Alerts are raised for risk situation changes, supplier status changes, etc. based on the configuration of users. An alternate supplier can be recommended based on the qualified suppliers listed for the same category.

SAP Ariba Supplier Risk

Please read my blogs Boosting Procurement Efficiency in 2024 with SAP Ariba Supplier Risk & Best Practices for effective supplier risk management with SAP Ariba for more information on SAP Ariba Supplier Risk.

To conclude, SAP Ariba, integrated with SAP S/4HANA, offers a comprehensive solution for the life sciences and healthcare industry, addressing the complexities of API procurement. By leveraging these tools, companies can enhance supplier management, compliance, efficiency, and overall supply chain resilience.

Stay tuned for our next blog, where we will explore how SAP Ariba procurement solutions could help with the compliance requirements of regulated industries like life sciences and healthcare.

What is Adoption?

2025-10-21T18:03:14.404000+02:00

As a former customer turned SAP employee dedicated to adoption, I hear some very different ideas about what adoption actually is. It seems to mean something very different to almost every customer I’ve spoken with (over 100 at this point)! So let’s clear the fog and attempt to create a working definition of adoption!

_______________________________________________________________

First, What Adoption Is Not

Not just the starting line. Marathon running for instance involves preparation, a starting line, a finish line, and in between a lot of hard work. Similarly, the day you “go live” is the starting line, not the finish line. You have to run the entire race!
Not “our users seem happy.” Sentiment is helpful but measurable business outcomes are the stuff of gold medals.
Not just a dashboard of random metrics. 1,000 logins are great but 3 automated processes that cut cycle time in half are better.
Not a once-and-done project. As your business, your processes, and your roadmap evolve; adoption is a continuous discipline.

_______________________________________________________________

So… What Is Adoption?

Adoption is the strategic, ongoing process of turning your SAP software into everyday business results. It goes beyond initial deployment to drive full, meaningful engagement across your organization—so you realize the value you bought, renew with confidence, and double-down on what works. Let’s review adoption as three components.

1) Depth and Breadth of Usage

Great adoption means your team uses the right capabilities deeply—and enough teams use them broadly—to create enterprise-wide impact.

Depth: You’re not just approving POs or reviewing timesheets—you’re using game- changing features like Guided Buying for SAP Ariba or SOW Bid for SAP Fieldglass. The features & functions that move the needle are the ones tied to specific value drivers such as price reduction, efficiency, quality, and compliance.
Breadth: Procurement, Finance, Operations, HR, and field teams all participate making workflows across what was once a silo’d organization. Swivel chair processes are gone. Handoffs are digital, not manual.

Signs you’re winning:

Feature usage moves from “core” capabilities to advanced.
Multiple business areas participate in end‑to‑end workflows (not isolated tasks).
Efficiency metrics improve: cycle time ↓, rework ↓, compliance ↑.

Benefit: Your process becomes a case study in total transformation not just another software deployment.

2) Consumption Aligned to Entitlement

You’ve matched what you own (spend/users/modules) with what you actually use—so value is realized, not left on the table.

You avoid shelfware by activating high‑value modules you’ve already paid for (and most likely justified with a business case).
Usage equals value. Your consumption patterns justify renewals and make the case for expansion.

Signs you’re winning:

License utilization aligns with the contract & business need.
Shelfware is activated with a plan.
Stakeholders can see a clear story of investing “x” to get “y”.

Benefit: The ROI is predictable & justified from a budget perspective because results are tangible.

3) Value Achieved

Adoption is measured by business results, not just the number of logins.

Efficiency: cycle time, touchless processing.
Compliance: policy adherence and audit readiness.
Cost/price: realized savings and cost avoidance.
Quality: candidates for SAP Fieldglass are up to the challenge

Signs you’re winning:

KPIs tie to executive priorities.
Value is repeatable and attributable to specific SAP-enabled scenarios.
Leaders want to know, “What else can we automate?”

Benefit: SAP solutions become an engine for transformation and growth. SAP is a valued and trusted partner.

_______________________________________________________________

A Practical 90‑Day Adoption Game Plan

Start with value. Identify 3–5 outcomes (e.g., reduce invoice cycle time by 30%, increase spend under management by 15%).
Map value to capability. Which capabilities make those outcomes real? (e.g., SAP Fieldglass Rate guidance or SOW bids. SAP Ariba Guided Buying, a well-defined supplier risk process.)
Activate champions by role. Procurement, AP, HR, and Operations, each need a champion with a playbook and a plan.
Configure KPIs & measure them early so you can see adoption in real time.
Show the score. Publish a simple, clear scorecard; spotlight improvements and highlight bottlenecks.
Scale what works. Turn the first wins into success stories; communicate and repeat what works across teams/regions.
Run regular adoption health checks. Which areas of the business need more help? Who deserves an innovation award?

_______________________________________________________________

Adoption done right . . .

So how are you running the race of adoption? Does your preparation phase need help? Do you need help getting from mile 13 to 20? When adoption is done right, your SAP solutions become the way your business runs—faster, smarter, with endurance & purpose.

SAP Ariba Supplier Management & Risk 2511 Release Key Innovations Preview

2025-10-28T11:36:30.885000+01:00

New Transactional Use Cases for Approvals and Navigational Use Cases for AI Copilot Joule in SAP Ariba Supplier Lifecycle and Performance (SLP-2288)

This feature adds navigational use cases for viewing supplier data and performing common supplier management activities, and transactional use cases for approvals, in SAP Ariba Supplier Lifecycle and Performance with AI copilot Joule. Users can get assistance from Joule for viewing supplier profiles, creating supplier request and modular questionnaire projects, finding out approval status for projects where they're an approver, and finding the projects that are pending their approval.

This feature adds the following capabilities in Joule for supplier management:

Use Case Type	Use Case	Description	Example
Transactional	Tasks still pending approval	Displays a list of tasks pending approval by the current user, with options for approving or denying the tasks in Joule. Results include matching tasks in all project types. There's currently no way to filter the list by project type. Tasks in some supplier management projects also support a Request Additional Info option. You must navigate to the task details page if you want to use this option rather than approving or denying the task.	Show me tasks pending approval
Transactional	Check approval status	Displays the approval status and currently active approvers of the specified task. You must include the task's ID in the question	Check approval status for task TSK1234567
Navigational	View a supplier's profile	Displays the matching supplier or suppliers. Choose Open in App to view the supplier's profile. To find suppliers by ID, you must include the supplier's SM vendor ID in the question.	Show me the profile for supplier 12345678 Show me the profile for supplier ABC
Navigational	Create a supplier request	Displays a Create supplier request in app quick link that opens the supplier request form or questionnaire configured for your site, if you have permission to create supplier requests. The link opens either the standard supplier request or the Dun & Bradstreet-integrated supplier request, depending on which one your organization uses.	Take me to the page for creating a supplier request
Navigational	Send modular questionnaires to suppliers	Displays a Send modular questionnaires in app quick link that opens the first page in the workflow for inviting suppliers to standalone modular questionnaires, if you have permission to create modular questionnaire projects.	Take me to the page for creating a modular questionnaire

View implementation details and more here.

Ability to Exclude System Generated Versions during ERP sync Internal and External Registrations (SLP-2310)

This feature ensures a new questionnaire version is only created if ERP sync changes the vendor mapped questions of the current active version, preventing unnecessary versions and maintaining clarity in version tracking in registration questionnaire only. (This feature is applicable only to supplier registration.)

View implementation details and more here.

New User Research Panel Link in the User Feedback Survey (SLP-2333)

When users complete the feedback survey, they now see a new user research panel link on the thank you page. The link allows users to sign up for the SAP User Research Panel, where they can engage with SAP and provide product feedback.

Changes to the User Interface

After a user submits a completed feedback survey, the thank you page now includes a SAP User Research Panel link. Choosing the link opens a sign-up form for the panel.

View implementation details and more here.

AI Copilot Joule in SAP Ariba Supplier Risk (SRISK-1848)

Joule, SAP's generative AI copilot, is now available in SAP Ariba Supplier Risk. Joule uses a conversational interface to help users complete tasks efficiently. It leverages generative and other AI technologies to understand natural language requests, identify intent, perform actions, and provide insights. Using generative AI, it can execute tasks, deliver tailored responses, and summarize information effectively.

View implementation details and more here.

New Country/Region Risk Provider (SRISK-1833)

A new default country/region risk provider, Moody’s Analytics, is available to include up to date country/region risk information in your risk exposure.

Including the country/region risk as a contributing factor to risk exposure for suppliers allows organizations to make more informed business decisions. The country/region risk exposure is displayed on the SAP Ariba Supplier Risk dashboard and in the supplier 360° profile.

Currently, SAP Ariba Supplier Risk uses country risk score data from the World Economic Forum (WEF) as the default source of information. With this enhancement, Moody’s Analytics becomes the default source of country risk score data.

Moody’s Analytics Country/Region Risk Index compares investment risk across 191 countries, provides a single country risk score, is updated quarterly, and aggregates threats along six risk dimensions:

Macroeconomic risk
Business risk
Financial risk
Social risk
Political risk
Security risk

Changes to the User Interface

On the SAP Ariba Supplier Risk dashboard, the Country/Region score (WEF) column in the Your Suppliers section is now changed to Country/Region score (Moody's).
On the supplier profile page, the Risk Exposure tab on the Risk menu displays Moody's risk categories.
Any other text or link that references the World Economic Forum (WEF) is now replaced with Moody's.

View implementation details and more here.

SAP Spend Control Tower - Feature highlights

Data Quality Analytics Dashboards (ARBARE-157)

This feature enables you to analyze the accuracy, completeness, and consistency of spend data loaded from source systems into SAP Spend Control Tower in the Data Quality dashboard.

Examples of the User Interface:

View implementation details and more here.

Manage Spend Taxonomy Enhancements (ARBTS-215)

This feature includes enhancements that enable you to expand your custom taxonomy by adding new categories, moving categories, and mapping additional UNSPSC codes.

You can now add a new custom category to support new products, map it to a unique UNSPSC level 4 code, and validate changes via SAP Spend Control Tower to prevent duplicates. Additionally, you can move custom taxonomy categories, along with their subtrees, to a new parent, which updates roll-ups for display and dashboards without altering item-level classifications or UNSPSC mappings. Unused UNSPSC codes can also be added to any custom leaf node to extend the taxonomy.

Changes to the User Interface

The Spend Taxonomy tab on the custom taxonomy page includes the following new buttons:

Add Categories
Add UNSPSC Mappings
Move To

View implementation details and more here.

Multi-Field Search for Invoice Item Categorization (ARBTS-95)

This feature enables you to evaluate and confirm proper invoice line item categorization using the new Invoice Items View on the Review Invoice Items Categorization page, which streamlines identifying items for review and applying consistent categorization.

The Invoice Items View lists aggregated invoice items and provides a multi-functional search to help you find items that need review. You can also save search criteria and apply a saved search to filter invoice items.

Review Invoice Items Categorization - Grouped View

View implementation details and more here.

Spend Analysis Benchmarks — Company vs Industry Performance (ANALYSIS-1324)

This feature enables you to view a comparative analysis of year-to-date company spend values and the industry averages along with the deviations for various spend categories in the Spend Analysis Benchmarks — Company vs Industry Performance dashboard.

SAP Spend Control Tower uses anonymized historical data to develop benchmarks for supplier spend and category spend. This data is used to create a benchmark report.

The Spend Analysis Benchmarks — Company vs Industry Performance dashboard provides insights into your company’s spend performance. It enables you to:

Compare spend performance across your enterprise, for example by company code or location, against the average and best performer within your company.
Compare your overall enterprise spend performance to industry peers, including the industry average and top performers in each area.

View implementation details and more here.

Stay connected with your community for more insights and updates:

Register for the Early Release Series for 2511 release- Multi-registration link and for CIM customers- P2P link
Feature related materials:
- SAP Ariba Connect - Release Readiness (Customers except CIM)
- Readiness Community page (For CIM customers)

SAP Community for Intelligent Spend Management page
SAP Help Portal pages - Procurement
What’s New

What's New in 2511 - Release Navigator for Spend Management

2025-10-28T14:26:00.593000+01:00

We're thrilled to announce the upcoming innovations for our 2511 Release! Our dedicated team has been working tirelessly to ensure you stay ahead with the latest enhancements. Below you can access the Release Navigator for Spend Management and easily locate all essential resources for a successful release, feature highlights for the upcoming release, and ways to connect to stay up to date!

Over the coming months, we'll be revamping and enriching our related content to mirror the newest advancements. Currently users can still access Business Network via the Release Navigator for Spend Management, you will be redirected to the Release Navigator for Supply Chain Management. As this journey continues, SAP Business Network content will begin to migrate from Spend Management communications to Supply Chain Management communications and portals! Dive into the 2511 release details below.

Here are feature Highlights for the 2511 release for SAP Ariba and SAP Business Network. Make sure to read through the blogs to learn more about these features and ensure you are properly prepared for these updates.

Accelerated Release Cycle for SAP Integration Suite, managed gateway for spend management and SAP Business Network Add-On 1.0 for SAP S/4HANA and SAP ECC (BPI-596)
AI Copilot Joule in SAP Ariba Supplier Risk (SRISK-1848)
AI Copilot Joule in SAP Ariba Contracts (SCONTR-1279)
Use of Spend Data for AI Recommendations in Category Segmentation (ARBCATA-504)
New Transactional Use Cases for Approvals and Navigational Use Cases for AI Copilot Joule in SAP Ariba Supplier Lifecycle and Performance (SLP-2288)
Spend Analysis Benchmarks — Company vs Industry Performance (ANALYSIS-1324)

Follow the Spend Management and Business Network and ReadinessS@Scale community tags, and Ryan Russman to stay up to date with the latest blog posts.

The 2511 release will incorporate release content updates only. With the migration of SAP Business Network to Supply Chain Management, the Release Navigator for Spend Management will continue to publish content updates but may delay UX updates to help minimize disruption to customers and partners.

Support.SAP.com – Release Ready page

SAP Activate – Roadmap Viewer

SAP Enterprise Support Value Map - SAP Enterprise Support Value Map for Spend Management and Business Network

Making Your Impact

SAP Ariba, SAP Fieldglass and SAP S/4HANA ERP solutions for public healthcare

2025-11-13T07:41:01.585000+01:00

Author: Allan Soo

Introduction

Healthcare public sector procurement spend is among the largest across the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). In 2021, 31.9% of all public procurement spend touches on public healthcare and infrastructure [1]. Nearly 75% of public spend on healthcare came from taxpayers [2]. With an ageing population and a shrinking taxpayer base, governments across the world are grappling with these fiscal challenges. One solution is to deploy effective spend management, procurement solutions across cost-intensive sectors of the economy to keep costs down.

Figure depicting the percentage government expenditure across the OECD-EU countries for 2023 [3]. Public sector procurement across the OECD-EU markets was 14.7% (2023), an increase of 0.9% compared to 2019.

Why an effective, public procurement platform is crucial for public healthcare and governments?

Public procurement in healthcare is one of the most regulated forms of purchasing dealing with hospitals, pharmacies, and qualified suppliers. This requires complex compliance to purchasing pharmaceutical ingredients, chemicals and other regulated products to be compliant to public healthcare agencies. An example is the procurement of surgical implants and tools which must comply with the Therapeutic Goods Association (TGA) and other dangerous goods regulations.

Healthcare public procurement is becoming a significant challenge for governments worldwide due to factors such as an ageing population, rising deficits and total debts, the high costs of running healthcare facilities, and increased health and safety regulations.

Track spend and compliance across cost-intensive healthcare segments by different categories with SAP Ariba Category Management, SAP Ariba Intake Management and SAP Ariba Supplier Lifecycle Performance Management

SAP Ariba Category Management gives public sector healthcare purchasers the tools to track spend goals on their most cost-intensive areas of their agency including high-tech equipment, specialized hospital beds, pharmaceutical purchases and more.

The solution gives public healthcare purchasers the option to manage supplier performance and track these against budgets, manage funds and investments assigned and set to them by the government.

The solution also offers customers a 360-degree visibility into the supplier’s healthcare certifications and qualifications, making sure that they comply to directives and maximize compliance across all purchases made for the public facilities. For example, Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) license for Australia, Wholesale Distribution Authorisation for EU suppliers supplying medicinal products, and Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency certification for medicinal product manufacturing in the United Kingdom.

Adverse events can then be monitored using SAP Ariba Supplier Lifecycle and Performance Management to manage supplier risks appropriately. 3rd party data such as D&B can give government buyers additional intelligence on the market risk of that supplier such as sustainability, supply chain exposure, and aid in calculating inherent and residual risk scoring…and so on. Up to 25 custom risk scores can be applied to the healthcare supplier in SAP Ariba Supplier Risk.

Renegotiate and manage multiple quotes across healthcare suppliers to drive cost savings with finance

To keep costs down, buyers have the ability with SAP Ariba Sourcing and Procurement for Public Sector in SAP S/4HANA, to manage different quotes and renegotiate prices with existing suppliers to obtain better deals. For example, evaluating the procurement of multiple MRI and X-ray machines, and different existing drug prices to encourage better competition between pharmaceutical suppliers to drive down prices.

Buyers can take advantage of the SAP Taulia Private Cloud solution with SAP S/4HANA and Dynamic Discounting feature where fast, early account payable transactions towards suppliers can lead to discounted cash savings that yield improved bottom line benefits for public healthcare finance customers.

Connect SAP Ariba Sourcing and SAP Ariba Buying solutions to the SAP S/4HANA ERP for high-level spend management and monitoring

Go beyond purchasing and ordering with high-level dashboard spend visibility [4] to track the list of purchase orders with SAP Ariba Central Procurement with SAP Ariba Buying (3EN) and SAP Ariba Buying, with guided buying capabilities (2NV) into SAP S/4HANA. Easily track the process flow of your purchases and export accounting documents to SAP finance and accounting solutions. Use three-way matching against invoice, purchase order and goods receipt to ensure that cost information is accurate. Request quotes from suppliers, allocate budget and discuss on pricing terms.

One highly relevant area for this is the operational procurement of medical apparel, protective equipment, gloves and face masks. You as the buyer want the tools to negotiate with suppliers on favorable pricing terms, sort price lists in Catalogs available over the SAP Business Network, and see the list of purchase orders, invoices and goods receipts in one place. You can set estimated budgets throughout the quotation process and track how far below under the target price you are able to get the costs down to attain cost savings.

Figure showing SAP Ariba Buying and Invoicing solution where healthcare purchasers can track how far below taxpayer funded budget they can obtain when purchasing medical supplies like gloves.

With these solutions, healthcare public sector buyers and public finance can move away from matching for accuracies and scrutinize cost details on these items and work collaboratively with other departments to find alternative suppliers and products that offer cheaper and better-quality substitutes.

Leverage AI solutions for contracts management

SAP Ariba Contract Intelligence by Icertis SolEx has contract authoring capabilities that are bolstered by AI to automate much of the clause generation that is in line with the public healthcare industry and to drive compliance. Examples can include authoring in sustainability criteria, medical manufacturing license requirements from suppliers, and assigning responsibilities on direct suppliers and their affiliates. By automating the contract lifecycle, lead times can be reduced and anomalies within contract clauses can be detected and flagged for risk mitigation. The solution helps users identify contract leakage risks to prevent cost blowouts and put boundaries on spend conditions for public healthcare purchases. Risk scores on suppliers can be imported from SAP Ariba Supplier Risk to SAP Ariba Contracts to guide contract awarding decisions so that risk-aware awarding decisions can be made. Managing suppliers is part of the public sector procurement responsibility to ensure that government healthcare agencies continue receiving the best outcomes for the budget they are given with the right contracts in place.

Put cost guardrails on healthcare goods and services procured

With WK value contracts [5] in SAP S/4HANA, SAP Ariba Contracts [6] users can set guardrails against overspending on suppliers. Given that in healthcare settings the quantity of goods can be non-negotiable, SAP Ariba Contracts offers the flexibility to adjust quantity (through quantity contracts) and assign other attributes such as discounts on purchased goods through supplier collaboration and negotiations. Buyers can set cost parameters on the value contracts and publish it through the Cloud Integration Gateway to SAP S/4HANA. Purchase cost data can then be ingested by finance solutions to monitor and act on the financial performance of the health agency.

Smart Peppol invoicing with SAP S/4HANA and SAP Ariba Central Invoice Management

With eInvoicing solutions offered with SAP Documents and Reporting Compliance (cloud edition) within S/4HANA ERP Public Cloud Edition, SAP Business Network via SAP Integration Suite, and SAP Ariba Central Invoice Management - Peppol compliant documents can be exchanged to help government healthcare sectors align with eInvoicing compliance requirements or eliminate the use of physical paper. Eliminating physical paperwork and complying to Peppol eInvoicing means enhancing fraud-prevention systems in place to build trust with the public and install financial protections, improves productivity and minimizes errors in costing amounts. Peppol is used by over 40 countries worldwide for business-to-government transactions, and is becoming a standardized, secure method of receiving invoices from the private sector supplier base by government agencies. Public hospitals and other healthcare agencies can examine and analyze invoice costs based on the high-fidelity information supplied electronically within the system, making it easily auditable for finance.

AI-driven Statement of Work (SOW) creations in SAP Fieldglass to alleviate workloads and focus on the things that matter

Minimize admin work and hire contractors to help comply to a variety of laws during the SOW creation process. Use the GenAI solution at SAP to identify opportunities to control costs during the SOW creation and reduce document creation times by about 71% by inputting titles, summaries and extracting data from PDF documents. With freed-up workloads, users can focus on the quality, risk and service traits of the contract (such as proper skills matching for best labour productivity outcomes). An example includes SOW creation for biohazardous health waste disposal services and scoping the boundaries of work, and clearly stating what services are in and out of scope and using SOW teams feature to collaborate with non-procurement colleagues on budget planning with finance that addresses high-spend service categories.

Improved SOW rates negotiation and cost management features on contracted services

Service buyers can negotiate for better rates post-agreement, automate offboarding signatures to cease spend, ensure hours worked are fulfilled by the contractors, reallocation of unspent SOW funds back to master SOW, inactivate cost centers when they are no longer used, and trigger alerts when rates vary away from agreed ones. These are features that are offered by SAP Fieldglass to service buyers in public healthcare settings to put a lid on costs.

Picture this, you need to onboard technicians to provide maintenance and calibration services for the complex equipment that the hospital has. Your rates need to be specified clearly, and any pay deviations need to be notified to the service buyer, clear start-end dates for the services and so on need to be in the SOW for legal reasons. You use the GenAI feature to produce an SOW quickly, double check the contents of this document, and have the work order issued. Skills are clearly specified for the job to minimize lead times onsite, and the best labour-hire is made. Therefore, costs are controlled, and the best productivity is obtained for maintenance work at the hospital.

Support green procurement practices

SAP Ariba Sourcing integrates with the suite of SAP S/4HANA Cloud ERP sustainability solutions to drive green procurement practices across the public healthcare sector. Given that Scope 3 contributes to around 79% of total carbon emissions [7] for this sector across the OECD markets, governments can use SAP tools to drive sustainable procurement practices on their direct suppliers. Examples including procuring gloves with a low product carbon footprint, high recycled content, and rubber data to ensure that illegal deforestation has not contributed to its production.

Alongside SAP Ariba Supplier Management, SAP Fieldglass and SAP Ariba Contracts, public healthcare sectors can manage risk appropriately and enforce sustainability practices and compliance on suppliers and contractors. This includes due diligence screening solutions on a supplier’s human rights and deforestation records, having the right sustainability credentials, and embedding sustainability due diligence into the core operational and strategic sourcing processes from procurement to the ERP environment. Given the mandates that governments must meet for their own net-zero, human rights and material circularity directives - SAP Ariba, SAP Fieldglass and SAP ERP Sustainability solutions provide a comprehensive suite of products to drive decarbonization and compliance in the public healthcare space. Partner solutions on the SAP app store can be used to enrich supplier data with sustainability scores and other external intel.

Tap into the SAP Spend Intelligence in SAP Business Data Cloud solution for rich data reporting on procurement spend

Enrich healthcare spend data with other SAP Business Data Cloud products to gain deeper insights into the entire healthcare organization’s finance and spend data. SAP Spend Intelligence offers customers a large variety of data products it can ingest. For example, sustainability, risk, contract leakages and off-contract purchase order spend. By providing strategic and operational insights into a public healthcare’s spend, buyers can optimize for and eliminate out non-compliance and uses AI and machine learning to automatically allocate spend categories neatly for interpretation. SAP Joule can be employed to clean and present cluttered data in a meaningful way that helps drive high-level decision-making processes which maximizes healthcare spend impacts and cuts down maverick and unwanted tail spend.

Conclusion

SAP Ariba, SAP Fieldglass and SAP S/4HANA ERP solutions provide finance and spend management solutions that offer customers the tools to keep up to date with the latest innovations in driving cost savings, optimize spend, manage down risks, reduce fraud and work collaboratively with public sector finance teams in government. Given the significance of public healthcare sectors across developed markets, innovative procurement spend management solutions play a key role in controlling costs in a high-expenditure industry. For years to come, healthcare expenses are projected to increase with an ageing population, rising deficits and living cost challenges.

This requires a comprehensive, suite of solutions for the public sector that leverages best-of-breed AI and solution offerings that advance the modernization of public sector procurement and finance operations. Governments have a responsibility to foster trust, comply to own directives, address fiscal challenges across the economy for the wellbeing of citizens, and deliver services cost-effectively to the public.

Adoption Isn’t a Phase, It’s a Relationship

2025-11-20T16:16:07.130000+01:00

If you know me, you know I love an analogy. It’s always helpful to make new information make sense by likening it to something we already understand.

In my role here at SAP, I talk about adoption a lot. It’s a point that I (and my wonderful team, Solution Value Advisory) really push with our customers, who sometimes think of adoption as a step in the overall process, something you do after go-live. So, my analogy for today is to look at adoption like a relationship, because it’s never just about the software, but about the people and how they interact with the system and each other.

It’s not much of a stretch, really. At the start, it’s a mix of excitement, a little confusion, and commitment that comes with bringing something new into your life, and hoping it thrives, grows, and has the support of people around you.

The honeymoon stage
In my last role several years back, I worked on Ariba solution implementations. Being on a shared services team, I got to stick my hands into a lot of different customers’ Ariba deployments. It felt great, for the customer and for me, to reach what felt like a finish line: go-live. That point of the new solution(s) going live after months of setup and testing. The vibes were always good - everyone was hopeful, users explored the system, performed tests. Teams got trained. There was that spark of possibility, that sense of this time, things will be different.

But just like any new relationship, the shine fades if the day-to-day connection isn’t nurtured. Old habits creep back in, shortcuts resurface. And, before long, that beautiful new tool starts gathering dust. Remember, adoption doesn’t end at go-live, that’s when it begins.

Relationships thrive on consistency, and so do systems
Healthy adoption looks a lot like a healthy partnership: steady, intentional, and full of small moments that build trust.

It’s when someone logs in and sees that their preferences were remembered. It’s when data syncs across systems, so people stop fighting with spreadsheets and endless back-and-forth email. It’s when users realize the tool makes their jobs easier, not harder. It keeps the relationship alive.

But breakdowns don’t usually happen with a bang, but a fizzle. Users don’t revolt, they quietly disengage. They skip the process “just this once.” Then they stop trusting the data, because the process is getting skipped and they can’t find what they were looking for. And now something that was originally set up to create efficiency is now only causing frustration, and becomes a pain in the…well, you know. 😊

In my work with customers, I see this all the time. I work a lot with customers on their supplier management processes especially, and I see a lot of this disengagement when it comes to onboarding. Tools like SAP Cloud Identity Services and SAP Ariba Supplier Lifecycle & Performance (SLP) can be super powerful, but they depend on trusted data and consistency. If people don’t understand why something matters, they won’t invest in making it work.

The love language of AI is good data
Now we’re entering a new chapter, one where AI tools like SAP Joule are ready to help make our jobs easier. But even Joule, which might seem like magic when you see it presented, needs a foundation of trust. This has been my main message of the year - reminding people that AI doesn’t make magic out of thin air, rather it builds on what we give it. If data is messy, disconnected, or if established processes are underused, Joule’s insights will be, too.

(Pausing here for a shoutout to anyone who was at the Customer Success Day in NYC earlier this year where I did a whole session to essentially say, “Garbage in, garbage out”. The highlight, at least to me, was my AI-generated Ariba song parody of Naughty by Nature’s O.P.P. Who’s down with SLP? Yeah you know me!)

But back to my relationship analogy, think of it this way: if you never talk to your partner, you can’t expect them to finish your sentences. Joule works the same way. The relationship only deepens when we communicate through connected, clean, and well-adopted systems.

Adoption is ongoing care.
As I said before, adoption isn’t a task. We don’t “complete” adoption. We maintain it. We check in with our users, we update them on changes, and we listen when something isn’t working and adjust before resentment sets in. The most successful customers I see are those who treat adoption as a living process. Not just implementing technology, but inviting it into their company culture. When adoption is healthy, everything else (innovation, automation, AI, etc.) starts to flow naturally. But just like any great relationship, it takes attention, empathy, and patience.

I encourage you all to stay in tune with our roadmap, as there’s a lot of exciting stuff to come in 2026 when it comes to AI in SAP. But as you read up on that and start to think how cool it will be and how much time it will save to have all of those new capabilities, remember that now is the time to build the foundation for that new relationship.

If you have any doubts about how well your company is adopting your solutions and how you’re doing on usage in comparison to other customers, do reach out to your CSM who can either help, or can pull in the right people to have that conversation. Sometimes that person is me, so say hi and maybe I'll share my library of Ariba song parodies.

SAP Ariba Roadmap: Quality Gates Checklist in SAP Cloud ALM

2026-01-16T21:05:35.502000+01:00

Imagine you’re halfway through your Ariba implementation, and suddenly you discover that key testing activities from earlier phases weren’t completed. What a roadblock! You start to get anxious and stressed and you are wondering how to solve this problem and still meet the deadlines. If you’ve been involved in a project before, you know that sinking feeling all too well.

This is exactly where Quality Gates come to the rescue. At the end of each phase - Prepare, Explore, Realize, and Deploy - there is a task specifically designed to help you check whether all the key deliverables have been completed, align with stakeholders, validate the activities and configurations executed, and think of mitigation plans if something was missed. Think of it as your project’s safety net, catching issues before they grow into bigger problems.

For those using Road Map Viewer, you will have a ‘Conduct Project Quality Gate’ task and an Excel file as an accelerator with easy questions and answers to help you validate your deliveries. You will have to download it and share it with other stakeholders when needed.

But here’s the big news: if you’re working in SAP Cloud ALM, the Quality Gate Checklist is now available directly within the system. That means you no longer need to download the Excel file. You can answer questions, track the status of each item, add comments, and tag the responsible stakeholders - all in one place. This makes Quality Gates more actionable and ensures everyone on the project team stays aligned. See the video below with an example of how to locate this information and answer the questions.

With this improvement, your SAP Ariba projects can start 2026 on the right foot. Quality Gates Checklist in SAP Cloud ALM makes it easier than ever to reduce risks, stay aligned, and keep your project moving smoothly.

Feel free to share your comments, suggestions, or feedback in this blog post or directly in Road Map Viewer. We will be happy to assist and improve the quality of our roadmaps!

2602 Early Release Series for SAP Ariba and SAP Business Network releases

2026-01-21T01:25:59.278000+01:00

Sign up now for the 2602 Early Release Series

Follow this blog to receive notification of new series as soon as registration opens.

SAP strives to equip our customers and partners with valuable release readiness resources for each SAP Ariba and SAP Business Network quarterly release.

Early Release Series

Supplier Management & Risk
Procure to Pay
Source to Contract
Business Network

If you want to learn more and actively engage with SAP subject matter experts, we encourage you to participate in these informative sessions. Register now!

Quarterly Release Communications

Anyone from your organization that has chosen to subscribe to product notifications will receive these announcements.

The release calendar for SAP Business Network and release calendar SAP Ariba Applications identify release timing several quarters in advance.

Where to find out more details?

On demand replays of webcasts from completed quarterly releases can be consumed from Release Readiness Resources: Webcast Archive Page

SAP Ariba Supplier Management & Risk 2602 Release Key Innovations Preview

2026-01-22T08:10:37.123000+01:00

Supplier Lifecycle & Performance

Ability to Restrict Hierarchy Level Selection for Department and Region in Questionnaire Configuration (SLP-2309)

With this feature, template creators can now configure hierarchy level selection restrictions for Department and Region question types in the same way they can for Commodity questions. Respondents can select only within specified hierarchy levels, improving accuracy in data selection and reducing manual review and correction efforts. (Learn more.)

Integration Support for Supplier Qualification Status (SLP-2387)

This feature adds support for synchronizing supplier qualification status to integrated ERP systems using custom generic fields. This change allows you to access up-to-date qualification information directly in the ERP system, facilitating automated decision-making processes such as blocking suppliers with expired qualifications. (Learn more.)

Ability to Restrict the Number of Commodity, Region, and Department Answers in Process Intake Forms (SLP-2392)

This feature enables you to configure the maximum number of answers process initiators can add to Commodity, Region, and Department questions in process intake forms. (Learn more.)

Ability to Perform Real-time Validation and Version Comparison for Supplier Questionnaire (SLP-2377)

This feature enables you to validate the data in real-time for supplier responses to external questionnaires. It allows buyers to compare validated current responses with previously approved versions. This enhances data accuracy and compliance with buyer standards. It also accelerates supplier onboarding. (Learn more.)

Additional Project Header Fields for Conditional Approvals (SLP-2386)

This feature increases the number of project header fields available for creating conditional approval workflows beyond the current six fields. This change allows you to create more conditional approval flows per questionnaire. (Learn more.)

Ability to Restrict Hierarchy Level Selection for Department and Region in Modular Questionnaire Configuration (SLP-2408)

With this feature, template creators can configure hierarchy level selection restrictions in the modular questionnaire template for Department and Region question types in the same way they can for Commodity questions . Respondents can select only within specified hierarchy levels, improving accuracy in data selection and reducing manual review and correction efforts. (Learn more.)

Additional AI Copilot Joule Capabilities for Finding Suppliers, Supplier Contacts, and Supplier Management Projects (SLP-2411)

This feature adds capabilities for using AI copilot Joule to find more information about suppliers and supplier management projects, including approval status and pending approvers for projects created by the current user, qualified and preferred suppliers, and suppliers with expiring or expired certificates. It also enhances the scenario for finding supplier contact information. (Learn more.)

Supplier Performance Evaluations in SAP Ariba Supplier Lifecycle and Performance (NGSM-2269)

This feature allows buyers to create and manage programs for conducting periodic supplier performance evaluations, which evaluate suppliers for performance based on key indicators determined by your organization. (Learn more.)

Supplier Risk

Ability to Enhance Risk Control Effectiveness by Automating Residual Risk Calculation (NGSM-1273)

This feature enables you to automate the effectiveness review of risk controls by using modular questionnaire scoring based on predefined criteria, eliminating the need for manual assessment. (Learn more.)

Ability to Create an Engagement Request from a Supplier Request Data (SRISK-1878)

This feature enables you to create engagement requests directly from approved supplier requests, removing repetitive manual steps and ensuring data consistency between supplier requests and engagement requests. You will receive a pop up message once the engagement request is created. (Learn more.)

Enhancing Supplier Risk Exposure API By Adding New Data Fields in Response (SRISK-1887)

This feature introduces a new version of the Supplier Risk Exposure API. In addition with the exposure details in the response, this new version has additional two fields data in the API response. (Learn more.)

Stay connected with your community for more insights and updates:

Feature related materials:
- SAP Ariba Connect - Release Readiness (Customers except CIM)
- Readiness Community page (For CIM customers)

SAP Community for Intelligent Spend Management page
SAP Help Portal pages - Procurement
What’s New

What's New in 2602, Release Navigator for Spend Management

2026-01-27T00:19:34.668000+01:00

Welcome to Q1 2026! A new year brings fresh innovations, and we’re excited to introduce the 2602 updates for the Release Navigator for Spend Management. This update is all about enhancing content maintenance, helping you stay ahead of the release!

Tool Overview

The Release Navigator for Spend Management is a tool provided by SAP Enterprise Support designed to be your central hub for understanding and managing new software releases for SAP Ariba, SAP Business Network, SAP Fieldglass, & SAP Concur. It allows you to easily locate essential resources for upcoming releases and quickly find cross-solution materials, documentation, webcasts, and more all in one tool!

New & Updated Content:

2602 What's New Viewer
2602 Early Release Webcasts
2602 Community Blogs:
- SAP Supplier Management & Risk
- SAP Procure-to-Order
- SAP Source-to-Contract
- SAP Category Management
2602 Feature Spreadsheet

2602 Feature Highlights:

SAP Ariba Procurement:

Generating Contract Summaries in SAP Ariba Contracts using AI [SCONTR-1266]
Modifying Event Duration and Searching Sourcing Requests Using Joule [SOURCE-2534]
Additional AI Copilot Joule Capabilities for Finding Suppliers, Supplier Contacts, and Supplier Management Projects [SLP-2411]

SAP Business Network:

Mass Aprove Order Confirmation Deviations [CSC-69956]
Sending Additional Address Details from TM to BN4L [FC-282]
Enhancement to Buyer Groups User Interface [NP-69370]

Innovation Schedule

To ensure a smooth user experience, the Release Navigator introduces new user‑experience updates once per year in August, alongside refreshed release content.

The Release Navigator will update automatically over the coming weeks—no action is required on your end.

Disclaimer: These dates are informational only and may change. The Readiness@Scale team has final decisions over any UX modifications.

Connect with Us

Your feedback helps shape future enhancements to the Release Navigator. We invite you to:

Complete our feedback survey
Share ideas or requests in the comments section
Learn more about the Readiness@Scale team
Explore additional content

Thank you for your continued engagement and support.

Best Run,
Readiness@Scale

SAP Enterprise Support

Balancing Conflicting Priorities of Procurement and Supply Chain

2026-02-12T15:55:15.624000+01:00

From Factory Floor to Forecast: What Matt Donegan’s Procurement Stories Reveal About Where SAP Customers Are Heading 🚀

If you’ve ever wondered why procurement debates can get so heated—especially in manufacturing—Matt Donegan’s podcast conversation is a masterclass in the real-world tension behind “simple” sourcing decisions. 🧩 Beneath the lighthearted dog-and-TikTok opener, Matt digs into an issue SAP customers and partners know well: direct materials procurement isn’t just about savings—it’s about keeping production running, protecting quality, and managing risk across a supply chain that’s often far less predictable than it looks on a dashboard. ⚙️

What makes Matt’s perspective especially valuable is that it’s grounded in plant-site reality. He’s lived the pressure of missing ingredients, uncertain shipments, and the ripple effect that one supplier decision can create across operations. And for organizations modernizing with SAP, his stories point to a clear message: the future belongs to teams that connect sourcing strategy with shop-floor execution—using data, collaboration, and technology that people actually adopt. 📈

Direct vs. Indirect: Why the “Lifeblood” Spend Gets Different Rules 🧠

One of the most important framing points in the discussion is the distinction between direct materials, indirect materials, and services—because the business consequences are radically different. 🏭

Direct materials are inputs that become part of the finished product. They’re planned against forecasts, tied to production schedules, and directly impact what customers receive on a daily basis. ✅
Indirect materials support the business (think facility supplies, office goods, and warehouse items), but don’t appear on the bill of materials. 🧻
Services keep operations running—from maintenance to repairs to cleaning and MRO-related work. 🛠️

Why does this matter to SAP customers and partners? Because direct procurement runs on a different clock and carries different risk. A late shipment of a key ingredient can halt a production line—turning a “good deal” into an expensive disruption. ⏱️

Plant Managers Aren’t Graded on Savings—They’re Graded on Output 🎯

Matt’s biggest insight is also one of the most practical: plant leaders are running a business inside the business. 📦 They manage inputs, transform them, and ship outputs—and their priority is being a reliable supplier to their customers.

From that lens, “success” looks like:

First-pass quality (materials meet spec without rework) ✅
On-time, in-full delivery (OTIF) (materials arrive when and how much is needed) 📅
Available-to-promise reliability (customers can trust commitments) 🤝

This is where procurement gets tricky: centralized sourcing teams may be measured primarily on year-over-year savings, while operations teams are measured on uptime and performance. 📊 The result is a familiar tug-of-war: cost optimization versus production certainty.

For SAP ecosystems, this is a reminder that transformation isn’t just system change—it’s KPI alignment and governance design. 🧭

The Real Pain Point: Global Supply Chains Still Have “Visibility Gaps” 🌍

One of Matt’s most vivid stories is about overseas procurement: sending a PO, getting a quick confirmation, and then enduring weeks of uncertainty. 🚢

Even when suppliers are reliable, international logistics introduces unpredictable variables:

port delays
customs holds
limited tracking precision
last-mile scheduling issues
constraints on receiving capacity at the plant 🧱

Matt highlights a dimension many teams underestimate: the human and physical reality of receiving. Materials don’t just “arrive.” Someone must unload, inspect, store safely (sometimes in specialized containers), and route it into production. 👷

For SAP customers, this underscores why visibility isn’t just a “nice-to-have.” It is operational resilience. And for partners, it reinforces the value of designs that connect procurement, logistics, inventory, and quality processes into one continuous picture. 🧩

Consignment: The Underused Strategy That Solves Two Problems at Once 💡

One of the most actionable tactics discussed is consignment inventory, which Matt calls a best friend—and for good reason. 🤝

In a consignment model:

the supplier ships material to the buyer’s site
the buyer does not pay until the material is pulled for use
inventory can sit nearby as a buffer without burdening working capital 💰

This creates two strategic advantages:

Operational safety: the plant has backup stock when overseas shipments slip. 🛡️
Working capital relief: millions in inventory can be available without sitting on the buyer’s balance sheet. 📉

The catch? Consignment depends on strong supplier trust—typically built through years of partnership and reliable consumption patterns. 🧱 This is an important point for procurement leaders: resilience often comes from relationship maturity, not just contract terms.

The Collaboration Playbook: Data, Shared Strategy, and Stakeholder Buy-In 📊

When asked how organizations can reduce friction between central sourcing and operations, Matt returns to a simple idea: be data-driven—and bring stakeholders along early. 🧾

He describes an internal “negotiation” process between sourcing and plant teams:

which suppliers are non-negotiable due to quality risk
where contracts can be rebalanced without harming performance
how allocation (local vs. overseas) can hedge risk over time ⚖️

The critical enablers here are:

shared metrics (not just siloed KPIs) 📐
supplier performance data (quality, OTIF, rework rates) 🔍
tools people actually use (adoption matters as much as capability) ✅

For SAP customers, this is a blueprint: procurement transformation succeeds when the system supports cross-functional decision-making—not when it simply digitizes old silos. 🏗️

Future-Facing Take: AI Will Elevate the Human Side of Procurement 🤖➡️🧑‍🤝‍🧑

Matt’s forward-looking statement is refreshingly balanced: yes, automation will expand—especially across tactical work and data-heavy tasks. 🤖 But his “hot take” is that what will differentiate procurement professionals is not purely technical mastery.

Instead, the standouts will be those who excel at:

Stakeholder influence internally 🗣️
Strategic supplier relationships externally 🤝
Joint innovation with partners 💡
Risk mitigation through trust, audits, and shared plans 🛡️

In other words: as AI absorbs more of the “math,” procurement becomes even more human. And that’s a powerful lens for SAP customers investing in intelligent procurement: the goal isn’t replacing people—it’s freeing them to do higher-value work. 🚀

Conclusion: The Next Procurement Advantage Is Integration—Of Data and People ✅

Matt Donegan’s stories remind us that procurement isn’t a back-office function in manufacturing—it’s a lever that can protect uptime, improve quality, and reduce volatility across the supply chain. 🏭

For SAP customers and partners, the implications are clear:

Align KPIs across sourcing and operations to reduce internal conflict 🎯
Use data to shift debates from opinion to evidence 📊
Build supplier partnerships that unlock resilience tools like consignment 🤝
Invest in technology that supports collaboration—not just compliance 🧩
Prepare for AI-enabled procurement where relationship skills matter more than ever 🤖✨

If there’s one takeaway worth reflecting on, it’s this: the best procurement strategies don’t optimize a number—they optimize the business. 📈

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/episode-027-aligning-procurement-and-supply-chain/id1764078646?i=1000749416873

https://open.spotify.com/show/5twXP1NehSqgCAznTnzQ5H