SAP Ariba

Rachith Srinivas, Matthew Cauthen

• Publisher: SAP PRESS
• Year: 2021
• ISBN:
  9781493220458
• Edition: 3
• Topic: Computer Science
• Subtopic: Computer Science General
• Index: Computer Science

1 Introduction to SAP Ariba

In this chapter, we’ll provide an overview of SAP Ariba in the context of SAP’s procurement solution portfolio as well as describe SAP-recommended deployment and implementation strategies for integrating SAP Ariba with SAP’s digital core, SAP S/4HANA.

SAP was founded in 1972 with the vision of providing integrated applications supporting business processes in real time. Procurement was an early business process supported in the first SAP ERP applications. Practically all business and government SAP customers procure items and services to support their day-to-day operations and to create and deliver goods and services to the marketplace or, in the case of the government, to their citizens. Fast-forward almost a half of a century, and procurement is still a core area supported within the SAP portfolio of products and solutions. This procurement area has changed a great deal, as with all areas of computing, over this time span.

An early prophecy of this computing revolution was Moore’s Law, which predicted the doubling of transistor circuits on computer chips every year. This law was articulated in 1965 and has held true so far. However, transistors weren’t the only area in computing evolving at a breakneck pace. Areas such as memory/storage, data throughput capabilities, and algorithmic-based software have shown even greater leaps in capabilities. No other industry has realized this type of better-faster-cheaper growth curve over the last half century than the technology industry. The products in the SAP ERP suite have taken advantage of and driven this trend by offering ever faster and more integrated business applications, including the reunification of both online analytical processing (OLAP) and online transaction processing (OLTP) in SAP’s latest ERP production iteration, SAP S/4HANA.

In addition to the exponential growth and expansion of capabilities, the Internet has changed the way computing applications and interactions are leveraged by both customer and supplier. No longer are perpetual licenses and large, up-front investments in both hardware and software necessary to acquire enterprise-level applications. Now, customers can purchase SAP solutions, including SAP Ariba and SAP S/4HANA Cloud, as subscriptions and consume these solutions via web browsers on smartphones, tablets, and desktop computers.

At the forefront of procurement in the cloud are the cloud-based solution offerings from SAP Ariba. In this chapter, we’ll introduce the various solutions offered by SAP Ariba, as well as the recommended implementation approaches for integrating the digital core of SAP S/4HANA with SAP Ariba for procurement scenarios and various levels of organizational complexity. We’ll walk you through the main considerations in the procurement solutions space in Section 1.1; SAP Ariba, in Section 1.2; cloud, on-premise, and hybrid models in Section 1.3 and Section 1.4; hybrid deployments in Section 1.5; and implementation methodologies for SAP’s cloud-based services and solutions in Section 1.6. In the following chapters, you’ll gain focused insights into SAP Ariba’s individual solution areas and applications, as well as accelerated project management approaches for each solution as we highlight key objectives and considerations for successful implementations and provide step-by-step instructions for configuration and use.

1.1 Procurement: From On-Premise Solutions to the Cloud

Starting with paper-based processes, procurement has always been about buyers understanding an organization’s needs and interacting with suppliers to obtain the required materials and services. Today, core business processes such as procurement are moving to cloud-based solutions at an increasing rate.

From the start of procurement, processes and systems were needed to optimize efficiencies and address potential conflicts of interest, also known as the principal-agent problem, which we’ll discuss further in Section 1.2. Prior...