Maintaining Quote Request Integration-Specific Cross-Reference Parameters in the Managed Gateway Integration Project

Cross-reference Parameters in the Managed Gateway integration project control how specific SAP system data values are interpreted, transformed, or routed when exchanged with SAP Ariba solutions. Unlike Lookup Tables, which map lists of values, Cross-Reference Parameters handle single, scenario-specific configurations that influence integration behavior. They define system-level or document-level rules that guide how the SAP system and SAP Ariba solutions handle specific values when processing procurement and sourcing documents. It determines how Managed Gateway interprets or transforms fields.

They handle customer-specific variations. Different customers have different SAP configurations, such as text IDs, document types, or behavior settings like Allow Negative Quantity and Send Payment Terms. They allow the integration to adapt to these variations without code changes, enabling document-level decision-making, such as deciding whether a Quote Message should create a Purchase Order, Contract, or Scheduling Agreement in the SAP system or use a specific document type when creating a Purchase Order in the SAP System.

Instead of making ABAP changes or implementing IF/ELSE logic, Cross-reference Parameters lets you set behavior directly in the Managed Gateway, reducing the effort required for customization. They act like integration settings, defining system behavior and data-handling rules and telling Managed Gateway how to correctly interpret specific values for consistent document processing across SAP and SAP Ariba solutions.

In summary, Cross-Reference Parameters ensure consistent, error-free data handling across scenarios.

In this lesson, you’ll learn to maintain Request for Quotation-specific Cross-Reference Parameters in the integration project on the Managed Gateway portal.

Before starting this lesson, you should already be able to:

• Enable the Managed Gateway from your SAP Ariba Strategic Sourcing site or realm and create an Integration Project.
• Choose Product = Ariba Sourcing in the Basic Information of the integration project.
• Define Connection information to establish connectivity between the Managed Gateway and your SAP on-premise system.
• Define Cross Reference Parameters for Request for Quotation (Doc Type – QuoteRequest).
• Define Cross References for UOM (Unit of Measures).
• Define Cross Reference Lookup Tables for Request for Quotation (Doc Type – QuoteRequest).
• Assign Realm IDs.
• Confirm, test, and deploy the integration Project.

These steps are covered in the course Deep-dive into SAP Integration Suite managed gateway for Spend Management and SAP Business Network of the Learning Journey Administering SAP Integration Suite, managed gateway for spend management and SAP Business Network.

In this lesson, we will focus only on the configuration of the Cross-Reference Parameters specific to the RFQ integration.

To complete this configuration:

• Define the parameter field values to be mapped.
• The SAP Ariba Administrator adds the relevant transactions and associated parameters.
• Parameter values can be set when creating an Ariba Sourcing integration project or later in the My Configuration page.

When the project is created, you initially define the parameter and lookup table values. You can continue editing the project while it is in Testing status and maintain values separately for both test and production environments.

Follow these steps to maintain the Cross-Reference Parameters for Request for Quotation (RFQ):

1. Navigate to the Managed Gateway for Spend&Network portal > Create or edit the Integration Project created for integration with Ariba Sourcing > Traverse to the CrossReference Configuration Parameter tab.
2. From the Select Document Type field dropdown, select QuoteRequest and choose the Add button.
3. Select the Pencil icon of the added entry for the QuoteRequest document type to maintain the parameters.
4. On the QuoteRequest;0;cXML popup screen, maintain the parameters based on your business requirements.
5. Once all the necessary entries are maintained, choose the Save button.

   For guidance, refer to the table provided in this lesson.

   Uncheck Use same values if you want a different value in the PROD Environment.

RFQ Dummy Vendor

In SAP, it’s mandatory to provide a vendor ID to create an RFQ. However, the purpose of sending the RFQ document to SAP Ariba Strategic Sourcing is to find a suitable vendor/supplier, so SAP Ariba Strategic Sourcing doesn’t require vendor information in the RFQ or Sourcing Request. SAP Ariba recommends using a dummy vendor ID when creating an RFQ in the SAP system for transmission to SAP Ariba Strategic Sourcing and maintaining the same vendor ID in this parameter. If maintained, vendor information is excluded from the cXML sent to SAP Ariba Strategic Sourcing during mapping/transformation. If not maintained, the vendor from the SAP RFQ will appear in the list of bidding suppliers in the SAP Ariba Strategic Sourcing Project, and you’ll need to remove it manually.

Text ID

The Text ID is an identifier that differentiates between various types of texts/comments in the SAP system. You can find more than one text/comment field at the header and line-item level, and a unique Text ID identifies each of these fields.

Enable System ID in Sourcing Integration, Bypassing AN

To enable bidirectional data flow between SAP ERP or SAP S/4HANA on-premise and SAP Ariba strategic sourcing solutions, bypassing SAP Business Network. SAP Ariba now supports direct integration between SAP Ariba Contracts or SAP Ariba Strategic Sourcing and Managed Gateway for Spend&Network to meet national data residency requirements. This enables bidirectional data flow between SAP ERP or SAP S/4HANA on-premise and SAP Ariba Strategic Sourcing solutions, bypassing SAP Business Network. This allows customers to comply with strict national data-residency regulations, as SAP Business Network is hosted in the US data center only.

For example, customers in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia data center are governed by stringent national data residency requirements, prohibiting data transfer outside the country. This feature ensures cXML transactions occur only between the SAP Ariba solution and the Managed Gateway, both hosted in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia data center.

More information is available on the SAP Help Portal. Refer to the SAP Integration Suite, Managed Gateway for Spend Management, and SAP Business Network Overview Guide, and navigate to the Support for Direct Integration to Meet Data Residency Requirements section.

To understand the prerequisites, navigate to Transactions for SAP Ariba Strategic Sourcing and SAP Ariba Contracts>Prerequisites>Support for direct integration to meet data residency requirements section in the SAP Integration Suite, Managed Gateway for Spend Management, and SAP Business Network Overview Guide.

To learn about maintaining Cross-Reference Parameters in the Managed Gateway project, refer to the learning Journey, Administering SAP Integration Suite, managed gateway for spend management and SAP Business Network:

• Course: Deep-dive into SAP Integration Suite managed gateway for spend management and SAP Business Network
• Unit: Creating a Project in SAP Integration Suite, managed gateway for spend management and SAP Business Network
• Lesson: Defining Cross References for Parameters, UOM Mappings, Lookup Values, and Realm ID