Get Ready: Guided Sourcing is Here!
Are You Prepared?
SAP Ariba introduced Guided Sourcing in November 2021 and announced in March 2024 that support for Classic Sourcing will end in Q1 2025. This means that customers using Classic Sourcing must transition to Guided Sourcing to continue receiving support.
SAP Ariba is making this change for several important reasons. Similar to how Microsoft encourages customers to upgrade to new operating systems, SAP Ariba is committed to moving all sourcing customers to Guided Sourcing. The reasons for this transition include:
- SAP wants to focus its limited engineering resources on a single code base and customer issues. This is a win-win for SAP and customers as well.
- Guided Sourcing is designed to be a foundational element in SAP Ariba’s new innovations across its ecosystem. A number of innovations have already been released, with many more to come.
Guided Sourcing is built to allow customers to convert on their own, so if your IT team is well-versed in sourcing, you should likely be able to manage the transition on your own.
Over the past 2.5 years, I have assisted numerous companies with their conversions, some in as little as 10 days. While I have seen some companies successfully transition on their own, many have encountered time-consuming and frustrating issues due to missed steps or a lack of understanding of some of the nuances in configuring Guided Sourcing.
Bad News and Good News
Bad news: If you have not converted yet, you have only a few months left, including the busy holiday season, to make the switch.
Good news: Help is available! If you have delayed converting to Guided Sourcing, hit challenges during the transition, or feel your sourcing investment is not delivering the expected benefits or ROI, we can help.
As a boutique consulting firm, CCP Global can respond quickly to your needs at a competitive price point. Let us know how we can assist you.
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