Ariba 2023 Q2 Release: Top 10 New Features

Configuring Ariba Updates

There are three configuration categories for SAP’s updates: automatically on, customer configured and contact SAP support to enable.

In this release the first two are not quite as clear cut as usual. There are several updates that we’ve highlighted that are categorized as “automatically on,” but still require some customer configuration. That means that, while the feature is available to everyone now, some action needs to be taken to make it work or to enable it.

Which leads us to the big news of this update, which we discussed in-depth in last week’s post: SAP is changing its HTTP protocols so HTTP links will no longer redirect to HTTPS. If this is not addressed before the change (which takes effect in the 2023 Q3 release in August), it might seem like your Ariba system is “broken”.

While this HTTP/HTTPS update is mandatory and is “automatically on,” the customer must manually redirect and reconfigure those HTTP links to HTTPS before the release in August to prevent broken links.

Now, on to the updates that our consultants rank as the 10 most useful in SAP’s 2023 Q2 release.

The Top 5 Upstream Features of the Ariba 2023 Q2 Release

1. Establish a Limit on Email Notifications Per Day from Test Sites – an all-consultant favorite!

Product: Buying; Buying and Invoicing; Catalog; Contracts; Invoice Management; Spend Analysis; Supplier Information and Performance Management; Strategic Sourcing Suite
ID: PLCS-7475
Integration: Automatically On

What we like about this feature: In a nutshell: Everything. It’s both our upstream and downstream consultants’ favorite for this release. Why? Because when testing is going on, it seems like we get a million emails a day.

This update limits the number of emails to 5,000 per day. Yes, that’s still a lot, but it’s a step in the right direction.

2. Migration of Contract Workspaces to SAP Ariba Contracts and Icertis Contract Intelligence

Product: SAP Ariba Contracts; SAP Strategic Sourcing Suite
ID: SC-17778
Integration: Automatically On

What to know about this change: With the notable exception of the HTTP/HTTPS redirect protocol changes, this is the one feature that we consider to be a significant update for the SAP’s 2023 Q2 release.

Previously, there was no option to create a mapping between the contract records in SAP Ariba Contracts and agreements in Icertis Contract Intelligence (ICI). This prevented buyers from managing contracts in SAP Ariba Contracts from ICI and vice versa.

Now, contract records in ICI and SAP Ariba Contracts can be mapped by using the IntegratedSystemReference.csv file. That means buyers can migrate legacy contracts between SAP Ariba Contracts and Icertis Contracts Intelligence (ICI). They can also use third-party applications to migrate contracts to SAP Ariba Contracts and ICI.

This allows buyers to navigate between the user interfaces and manage contract records from either of the systems.

This is one of those configuration caveats: while this feature is “automatically on,” it’s not really automatic because a mapping file still needs to be created by the customer.

3. Option to Require Supplier Registration Before Starting Qualification Processes

Product: SAP Ariba Supplier Information and Performance Management; Lifecycle and Performance; Strategic Sourcing Suite
ID: SM-35771
Integration: Customer Configured

What we like about this feature: Interestingly, this used to be the default setting in Supplier Management: you could not qualify a supplier until they had completed registration.

We are not sure when that changed, but now there is a toggle that allows you to restrict the capability to create process qualifications for a supplier until the supplier has completed registration.

Again, we’re not sure why anyone would want to qualify an unregistered supplier, but now, if you toggle the switch to “false” it doesn’t allow you to start process qualifications for unregistered suppliers.

If you keep it set to true, as it is by default now, the system allows you to set process qualifications for unregistered suppliers. It’s customer configured, so what you do is entirely up to your company’s policies.

4. Invalidation of Preferred Status After Disqualification

Product: Supplier Information and Performance Management; Supplier Lifecycle and Performance; Strategic Sourcing Suite
ID: SM-35912
Integration: Automatically On

What we like about this feature: It automatically removes the preferred status of a supplier if an existing process qualification is disqualified. It used to be that you had to go in and manually remove the preferred designation from the supplier after you disqualified them. Now it will do so automatically.

As with the above feature change (in which the supplier should not be qualified if they’re not fully registered), in this case the supplier should not be considered preferred if they’re disqualified.

5. Guided Sourcing Improvements

Product: SAP Ariba Sourcing; SAP Strategic Sourcing Suite
ID: ET-1490; ET-1621; OPT-4290
Integration: Automatically On

What we like about this feature: These three updates are small tweaks, but they improve the Guided Sourcing experience.

• ET-1490: Ability to Mark Suppliers as Excluded in Guided Sourcing Events
  You can now carry over excluded suppliers from either a predecessor project or can mark suppliers as excluded in Guided Sourcing.

• ET-1621: Ability to Include Product Questionnaire Responses in the Supplier Response Report
  This enables buyers using guided sourcing to include product questionnaire responses in the supplier response report PDF. That means there’s more information available in the Guided Sourcing solution.

• OPT-4290: Ability to View Supplier Ranking and Other Enhancements to the Bid Analysis Table View
  Enables buyers to view supplier ranking based on the bid values for each line item. You can then sort and filter and it improves pagination capabilities.

The Top 5 Downstream Features of the Ariba 2023 Q2 Release

1. Data Purge Capabilities in SAP Ariba Solutions

Product: Buying; SAP Ariba Buying and Invoicing; SAP Ariba Catalog; SAP Ariba Contracts; SAP Ariba Invoice Management; SAP Ariba Sourcing; SAP Ariba Spend Analysis; SAP Ariba Supplier Information and Performance Management; SAP Ariba Supplier Lifecycle and Performance; SAP Ariba Supplier Risk; SAP Business Network; SAP Business Network for Supply Chain; SAP Strategic Sourcing Suite
ID: SI-23
Integration: Automatically On

What we like about this feature: This is a valuable tool for cleaning up and clearing out old data. This update, which will be available in the 2306 release, gives you the ability to purge transaction and audit log data older than a specified date. Administrators can also configure recurring data purges based upon your company’s retention policies.

While this is automatically on, that only means that the feature will automatically become available. Configurations will still be necessary to set up the criteria for any purges.

2. Mobile App Updates

Product: Buying,; Buying and Invoicing; Contracts; Sourcing; Supplier Lifecycle and Performance
ID: BMA-4325; BMA-4401; BMA-4590; SAS-33; SAS-34; SAS-36
Integration: Automatically On

What we like about this feature: Apps are increasingly popular in both our business and personal lives to manage data and activities, so app updates are always welcome. Here is an overview of the app improvements for this release:

• BMA – 4325: Redesigned User Interface of Home Screen in SAP Ariba Procurement Mobile App
  Your requests and to dos sections are displayed as tiles instead of cards and the Your to dos section displays the number of items for each tile.
• BMA-4401: Support for Display of Custom Fields in Receipts in the SAP Ariba Procurement Mobile App
  Enables the display of custom fields in receipts in the SAP Ariba Procurement mobile app.
•  BMA 4590: Enable SAP Ariba Procurement Mobile App Access for all Users
  Enables customer administrators to configure their site to bypass the Ariba Mobile User group membership check. That allows all users, irrespective of their group membership, to use the SAP Ariba Procurement mobile app.
• SAS-33: Sort and Filter Search Results in SAP Ariba Shopping Mobile Application
  Allows you to refine your search results by sorting them (by relevance, best-selling, price and alphabetical order). You can also filter them (by category, price, manufacturer name, supplier ID, keyword).
• SAS-34: Delete Requisitions in SAP Ariba Shopping Mobile Application
  This allows you to delete requisitions that are in Composing state.           
• SAS-36: Push Notifications in SAP Ariba Shopping Mobile Application
  Now a push notification is sent when the status of a requisition is changed to one of the following: Fully Approved, Ordered, Denied, so you can have instant notification of a status change.

3. Improvements to Guided Buying

Product: Buying; Buying and Invoicing
ID: GB-8257; GB-13455
Integration: Customer Configured

What we like about this feature: There are a number of improvements to guided buying in this update as SAP continues to improve their interfaces to make them more like the type of online shopping experience that most people are familiar with and comfortable with. Here are two that we’d like to highlight that need to be configured by the customer, which means you have to take action to use them.

• GB-8257: Item Recommendations
  Just as Amazon might as you if you want to buy some more of that dark roast coffee you purchased last month, Guided Buying can now suggest products and services based upon past purchases. It’s a convenient way to reorder.
• GB-13455: Guided buying usage reports
  This provides administrators visibility into the searching and purchasing performed by users and the organization’s overall interaction with guided buying. Think of this as a health report for Guided Buying because it’s really a way to get people to utilize it more.

4. More Flexibility in On-Behalf-Of Buying

Product: Buying; Buying and Invoicing
ID: GB-23279
Integration: Automatically On

What we like about this feature: We’ve discussed the topic of on-behalf-of buying in both our 2022 Q1 Release and our 2022 Q4 release blogs.

Historically, on-behalf-of buying was so restrictive for some organizations because their users couldn’t choose their purchasing unit or their plant. Now users can choose their own purchasing unit and plant in Request-by-PU sessions or Request-by-Plant sessions. Users can also view their account profile information within guided buying, instead of having to go to SAP Ariba Procurement solutions.

This allows for more default information to automatically fill in the requisition for the preparer, which makes it faster and simpler to use.

5. Button to Resend Invoices to SAP Business Network

Product: Buying and Invoicing; SAP Ariba Contract Invoicing; SAP Ariba Invoice Management
ID: AINV-1116
Integration: Automatically On

What we like about this feature: Previously, when there was a network error that prevented an invoice or invoice reconciliation document to reach the SAP Business Network, SAP Ariba support was required to resend it. Because of delays in obtaining that support, that meant in-house admins were often using workarounds to avoid contacting support, with varying degrees of success.

Now there’s a button the company admin can use to submit the document without needing outside support.

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