SAP Ariba 2022 Q2 Release: Most Useful Upstream Features
SAP’s 2022 Q2 Release included 83 new features. One takeaway is the increased focus on improving Guided Sourcing to have more of the functions and features associated with standard sourcing. These are the 5 upstream features that we think will be the most useful to most users from SAP Ariba’s 2022 Q2 release.
An Important Note
- Many of the updates highlighted here require customer configuration. That means your Ariba administrator, whether in-house or as outside support, will need to configure and activate that update. CCP Global includes Proactive Monitoring of Ariba Notices and Quarterly Releases in our robust SAP Ariba Application Managed Support program. Read our Ariba Quarterly Releases FAQ for more information on the three types of configurations.
- Two of the updates are mandatory and they will effect e-signature abilities. It’s important to be aware of what’s required to keep your access to Adobe Sign and DocuSign.
Our Top Five Upstream Feature Upgrades of the Ariba 2022 Q2 Release
1. Multiple Improvements to Guided Sourcing
Product: Guided Sourcing
ID: Multiple ID numbers
Integration: Automatically On
What we like about this feature: This is the big news for the Q2 release: the increased focus on improving the Guided Sourcing to have more of the functions and features associated with standard sourcing.
This is similar to what happened with Guided Buying. When it was first released it was just a UI with limited functionality, but now, many updates later, it has the same capabilities as traditional buying and invoicing solutions.
Here are the highlights of the Guided Sourcing improvements:
- Multi-stage projects – ability to link and copy project data
- Support automatic addition of preferred suppliers to guided sourcing events
- Support for content documents in guided sourcing full projects
- Adds message board panel to guided sourcing full projects
- Ability to update guided sourcing event content via smart import from Excel
- Allows guided sourcing users to view and edit full projects created in the SAP Ariba sourcing classic UI
- Allows guided sourcing users to access and manage event templates from the For You dashboard
- Ability to view and access the project template from a guided sourcing project
- Adds sourcing support desk SSM and event day management EDM features for guided sourcing
- Support for customizing email notifications and mass translations of event content in guided sourcing
- Bid comparison report enhancements and new config settings to configurable bid comparison reports for guided sourcing events
2. Enhancements to master data integration with SAP S/4HANA Cloud using SAP Master Data Integration
Product: Buying, Buying and Invoicing, Contracts, Sourcing, Strategic Sourcing Suite
ID: PLMDS-4243
Integration: Customer Configured
What we like about this feature: This enhanced integration function with S/4HANA makes sense when you consider this looming deadline: If you have a current SAP ERP system you’re going to have to migrate to S/4HANA prior to the end of the standard support contract in 2027. Many of the updates in Q2 introduce improvements to this integration.
This feature introduces enhancements to master data integration between SAP Ariba applications and SAP S/4HANA Cloud using the SAP Master Data Integration service and SAP Ariba master data native integration (MDNI). Now, master data integration can be configured for replicating supported master data objects without the help of SAP Ariba Support, which makes it much more convenient for users.
For replicating master data objects from SAP Material Master, or objects with Business System ID, a new parameter is available to allow the master data objects to be directly published to the master data service (MDS).
3. SAP ERP and SAP S/4HANA integration for SAP Ariba Spend Analysis
Product: Spend Analysis
ID: SV-1110
Integration: Customer Configured
What we like about this feature: It provides out-of-box SAP ERP (SAP ECC 6.0+) and SAP S/4HANA integration for SAP Ariba Spend Analysis leveraging SAP Ariba Cloud Integration Gateway and SAP Master Data Services (MDS). It also provides Business Add-Ins (BAdIs) for customization as needed. This allows for better data visibility across all of your SAP data architecture.
Again, while ECC 6.0+ is included, the focus is on S/4HANA.
4. Automatic synchronization of supplier ACM IDs to the integrated ERP system
Product: Strategic Sourcing Suite, Supplier Information and Performance Management, Supplier Lifecycle and Performance
ID: SM-27668
Integration: Customer Configured
What we like about this feature: Automatically synchronizes supplier ACM IDs set as default values in generic custom fields to the integrated SAP ERP or SAP S/4HANA system as part of integration messages.
This eliminates the need to manually add to supplier records created from data import or replication from the ERP.
5. Supplier Certificate Data Report
Product: Strategic Sourcing Suite, Supplier Information and Performance Management, Supplier Lifecycle and Performance
ID: SM-19458
Integration: Customer Configured
What we like about this feature: Adds the Supplier Certificate Data report type to the Supplier data snapshots page.
Before this update, the only way to view certificate data was to review individual questionnaire responses to get a full list of all certificates provided by supplier. The report collects the supplier’s certificate data across different questionnaires and shows it directly on the Supplier 360 profile.
Jump to the most useful downstream features of the Ariba 2022 Q2 Release
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