Describing SAP Ariba 2402 Release Features

Objective

After completing this lesson, you will be able to describe new or changed features for SAP Ariba Sourcing in the SAP Ariba 2402 release

ET-2020: Additional Options for Configuring the Event End Date and Time Settings in Guided Sourcing Templates

Technical Details

  • Applicable Products
    • SAP Ariba Strategic Sourcing Suite
  • User Type
    • Buyer
  • Enablement Model
    • Automatically on

Description

This feature introduces additional options to the Due date rule in the Timing Rules section of the guided sourcing event templates to allow template administrators to:

  • Specify a date and time value for the event end date.
  • Delegate the event end date configuration to the event owners, or mark it as hidden or read-only.

As a template creator or a buyer administrator, you can choose to set the duration for the event ending time (Due date) or set a date and time. You can also choose one of the following rule options:

  • Delegated: The ability to set the rule is transferred to the event owner. Both Duration and Time options for the event end date are displayed in the event. The event owner can choose one of the options and set the value.
  • Read Only: Only the option selected in the template is displayed in the event. Event owner can set the value in the event.
  • Hidden: Only the option selected in the template is displayed in the event. Event owner can set the value in the event.

Note

For eTendering events, it is recommended to select the Time option due to the uncertainty in the time taken to publish the notices on the public procurement portal.

Customer Benefits

This feature will help customers to get better control of configuring the bidding time.

Prerequisites

This feature is supported only in the guided sourcing user interface. To use this feature in the guided sourcing user interface, your site must have guided sourcing enabled.

Feature Details

Changes to Existing Functionality

Earlier, template administrators could set the Due date only as duration. Now, they can set it either as duration or a specific date and time. They can also mark the setting to be read-only or hidden, or delegate the setting of the event end date (Due date) to the event owner.

User Interface Changes

The Due date rule in the Timing Rules section in a guided sourcing project template now has the Time option to select the date and time. It also has a dropdown with the values Delegated, Read Only, and Hidden.

In the Event Duration section in a guided sourcing event, the Event bidding ends field displays the option that was selected in the template. If the rule was delegated, then both Time and Duration options are displayed.

ET-2154: Ability to Publish Sourcing Events Without Inviting Suppliers

Technical Details

  • Applicable Products
    • SAP Ariba Strategic Sourcing Suite
  • User Type
    • Buyer
  • Enablement Model
    • Automatically on

Description

This feature introduces an Intelligent Configuration Manager parameter that enables buyer users to publish sourcing events without inviting suppliers.

When the parameter Enable publishing an event without inviting suppliers is set to Yes, sourcing events can be published without inviting suppliers.

Note

Public sector events can be published without inviting suppliers even if the value of this parameter is set to No.

Customer Benefits

This feature will allow customers to publish sourcing events without inviting suppliers.

Prerequisites

  • This feature is supported in the classic SAP Ariba Sourcing user interface and the guided sourcing user interface. To use this feature in the guided sourcing user interface, your site must have guided sourcing enabled and you must be a member of the Category Buyer group.
  • You must be a member of the Customer Administrator group to configure the parameter.

Feature Details

Changes to Existing Functionality

Earlier, sourcing events could not be published without inviting suppliers. Now, this is possible by setting the value of the parameter Enable publishing an event without inviting suppliers to Yes.

Administrator Interface Changes

The new parameter Enable publishing an event without inviting suppliers is added to the Intelligent Configuration ManagerManage Configurations page.

SC-19392: Disable User Group Creation in Contract Workspaces and Sourcing Requests, Events, and Projects

Technical Details

  • Applicable Products
    • SAP Ariba Contracts
    • SAP Ariba Sourcing
    • SAP Ariba Strategic Sourcing Suite
  • User Type
    • Buyer
  • Enablement Model
    • Customer configured
  • Feature IDs Associated with This Feature
    • SC-19392
    • SS-44926
    • SS-49633

Description

This feature enables template administrators to prevent event owners from creating new user groups in contract workspaces and sourcing requests, events, and projects.

When the Intelligent Configuration Manager (ICM) parameter Disable User Group Creation in Contract Workspaces and Guided Sourcing Projects (Application.ACM.DisableUserGroupCreation) is set to Yes, a new field, Disable User Groups Creation, becomes available in the contract workspace and sourcing templates. When Template Creators set the Disable User Groups Creation field to Yes, the following options are hidden from event owners:

  • Create group in the Teams popup in sourcing projects and sourcing requests
  • OverviewEdit TeamCreate Group in contract workspaces

When the Create group option is hidden, it prevents the event owners from creating new user groups.

Availability of the Create group Option

Application.ACM.DisableUserGroupCreation ICM Parameter ValueDisable User Groups Creation Field ValueAvailability of Create group Option
YesYesUnavailable
YesNoAvailable
NoThis field in not availableAvailable

Customer Benefits

This feature prevents event owners from being able to create user groups in a contract workspace.

Prerequisites

  • You must enable the ICM parameter, Application.ACM.DisableUserGroupCreation.
  • This feature is supported in both classic sourcing and guided sourcing user interfaces. To use this feature in the guided sourcing user interface, your site must have guided sourcing enabled and you must be a member of the Category Buyer group.
  • For this feature to work in contract workspaces, your site must have SAP Ariba Contracts integrated with SAP Ariba Sourcing.

Feature Details

Previously, event owners were able to create new user groups in contract workspaces and in sourcing requests, events, and projects.

Now, the sourcing (sourcing requests, full projects and single-event projects in both guided sourcing and classic souring) and contract workspace templates can be configured to prevent event owners from creating new user groups when the ICM parameter Application.ACM.DisableUserGroupCreation is set to Yes. Template administrators can set the Disable User Groups Creation field, which appears under the Overview tab of the sourcing and contract templates, to Yes to hide the following options and thus prevent event owners from creating new user groups:

  • TeamsCreate group in sourcing requests, events, and projects in sourcing
  • OverviewEdit TeamCreate Group in contract workspaces

Disable User Groups Creation Value as per Different Template Creation Scenarios

Template Creation MethodDisable User Groups Creation Value in New Template
Create or edit templatesTemplate Creators can update.
Copy from existing templatesValue taken from source template.
Export templatesSame value as the source template is set.
Import templates

If the source template has the Disable User Groups Creation field, the value is copied from the source template.

If the source template does not have the Disable User Groups Creation field, then the default value No is set.

New version from existing templates

If the source template has the Disable User Groups Creation field, the value is copied from the source template.

If the source template does not have the Disable User Groups Creation field, then the default value No is set.

SS-42887: Enhancement to Grade Weight Tables

  • Applicable Products
    • SAP Ariba Sourcing
    • SAP Ariba Strategic Sourcing Suite
  • User Type
    • Buyer
  • Enablement Model
    • Automatically on

Description

This feature introduces an enhancement to the offline grading functionality in guided sourcing.

During offline grading, you can use the Scoring Weight column. Graders can export event content as an Excel file, grade it offline, and import it back into the event to complete the grading task.

Customer Benefits

With this feature, buyers or graders have the option to download an offline grading file, fill it out, and upload it back to the SAP Ariba application.

Prerequisites

  • This feature is supported only in the guided sourcing user interface. To use this feature in the guided sourcing user interface, your site must have guided sourcing enabled and you must be a member of the Category Buyer group.
  • You must be the event owner or have project owner capabilities for the event.

Feature Details

Changes to Existing Functionality

Graders can export event content, grade it offline, and import it back into the event.

Information for Buyers

To use grading and scoring in guided sourcing, the Enable Scoring on Participant Responses event rule must be enabled.

SS-46238: Support for Custom Filters from SAP Ariba Supplier Lifecycle and Performance in Guided Sourcing

Technical Details

  • Applicable Products
    • SAP Ariba Sourcing
    • SAP Ariba Supplier Lifecycle and Performance
    • SAP Ariba Strategic Sourcing Suite
  • User Type
    • Buyer
  • Enablement Model
    • Automatically on

Description

This feature enhances the supplier search and filtering options in guided sourcing instances that are integrated with SAP Ariba Supplier Lifecycle and Performance by incorporating custom filters from SAP Ariba Supplier Lifecycle and Performance. The custom filters from SAP Ariba Supplier Lifecycle and Performance are displayed in the Invite Suppliers page of guided sourcing events.

Custom filter integration from SAP Ariba Supplier Lifecycle and Performance supports the following types of filters:

  • Text
  • Short text
  • Multiline free text
  • Yes/No (Boolean)
  • Whole number and percentage

Text, Short text, and Multiline free text filters can support free text entries or choices and allow single or multiple choices. Whole number and percentage type filters can support ranges and choices. Filters with up to five choices display the options as checkboxes. When there are more than five choices, they are displayed as multiselect dropdowns.

Note

The out-of-the-box and custom filters are available only for searching and the corresponding values cannot be added to the search results view.

Apart from the custom search filters that are integrated from SAP Ariba Supplier Lifecycle and Performance, you can continue to use the supplier search filters that are available in SAP Ariba Sourcing and the out-of-the-box search filters integrated from SAP Ariba Supplier Lifecycle and Performance.

You can activate the search filters by selecting the corresponding entries from the Search criteria setting dropdown. The filters appear in the Filters panel in the same order they are listed in the Search criteria setting dropdown. The custom filters are listed after the filters from SAP Ariba Sourcing and the out-of-the-box search filters integrated from SAP Ariba Supplier Lifecycle and Performance.

Note

Guided sourcing displays only the active suppliers in search results even when the searches are based on the filters integrated from SAP Ariba Supplier Lifecycle and Performance.

Dynamic filters appear for selection in the Search criteria setting listing only if there are matching entries in SAP Ariba Supplier Lifecycle and Performance.

Customer Benefits

Project owners who are searching for suppliers to invite to their sourcing events now have access to certain SAP Ariba Supplier Lifecycle and Performance vendor data so they can make decisions about who to invite to their events.

Prerequisites

  • Your site must have an active integration with SAP Ariba Supplier Lifecycle and Performance.
  • This feature is supported only in the guided sourcing user interface. To use this feature in the guided sourcing user interface, your site must have guided sourcing enabled and you must be a member of the Category Buyer group.

Restrictions

The filters you select from the Search criteria setting dropdown are session-specific and are cleared when you leave the session. You need to select the filters again the next time you want to access the filters.

Feature Details

Changes to Existing Functionality

Previously, the Invite Suppliers page contained only filters based on attributes in SAP Ariba Sourcing and the out-of-the-box filters in SAP Ariba Supplier Lifecycle and Performance. Now, you also have access to custom filters from SAP Ariba Supplier Lifecycle and Performance.

User Interface Changes

Additional filtering options are added to the Search criteria setting dropdown list.

SS-46843: Ability to Create SAP Business Network Discovery Postings for Guided Sourcing

Technical Details

  • Applicable Products
    • SAP Business Network Discovery
    • SAP Ariba Sourcing
    • SAP Ariba Strategic Sourcing Suite
  • User Type
    • Buyer
  • Enablement Model
    • Automatically on

Description

This feature enables buyers using guided sourcing to create and publish SAP Business Network Discovery postings for public- and private-sector events. SAP Business Network Discovery postings enhance the reach of the events and enable suppliers who are not part of the buyer’s supplier network to express their interest in participating in the event. In public-sector events, such suppliers, who express interest, are automatically invited; in private-sector events, buyer users can choose to invite all, some, or none of such suppliers.

You can utilize SAP Business Network Discovery to expand your supplier network beyond your established SAP Ariba supplier network and invite new suppliers to participate in guided sourcing events.

Customer Benefits

The feature provides buyers the option to publish private sector and public sector discovery posts in SAP Business Network. It will allow new suppliers in SAP Business Network or external suppliers to find the posting details and express intent to participate. It also provides the ability for suppliers to bid on the event in case of public sector posting.

Prerequisites

  • Your site must be integrated with SAP Business Network Discovery.
  • This feature is supported only in the guided sourcing user interface. To use this feature in the guided sourcing user interface, your site must have guided sourcing enabled and you must be a member of the Category Buyer group.
  • The parameter Block classic sourcing creation (Application.AQS.RFX.BlockClassicSourcingCreation) must be enabled for your site.

    If you are a new customer, the parameter Block classic sourcing creation (Application.AQS.RFX.BlockClassicSourcingCreation) is enabled by default during site deployment to make sure that new customers use only guided sourcing for event creation. If you are an existing customer and you want to create events using guided sourcing instead of classic SAP Ariba Sourcing, you need to submit a service request to SAP Ariba Support to enable this parameter.

  • The feature SRC-1401 and the parameter Application.AQS.RFX.EnablePublicSector must be enabled for your site. Contact SAP Ariba Support to enable the feature and the parameter.
  • The guided sourcing event must be in the Draft state.
  • To create an SAP Business Network Discovery posting for the public sector, the event must be created from a template with the Is the sourcing event for the public sector rule set to Yes.

Restrictions

  • Currently, migration of postings from the legacy SAP Business Network Discovery to the new SAP Business Network Discovery is not supported in guided sourcing.
  • Localization is not supported for fields that are retrieved from third-party sites.
  • Search is not supported for Commodities and Regions fields.
  • When the parameter Block classic sourcing creation (Application.AQS.RFX.BlockClassicSourcingCreation) is enabled, the following UI elements in the dashboard become unavailable:
    • The Supplier Discovery Postings pane
    • The Supplier Research Posting option in the Create menu

Feature Details

Changes to Existing Functionality

While creating a guided sourcing event, you can create an SAP Business Network Discovery posting for the event.

In private-sector events, you can view suppliers interested in the posting. You can choose to import suppliers that match your requirements from SAP Business Network Discovery to the guided sourcing supplier database. You can also invite suppliers to the private-sector event.

In public-sector events, suppliers who express their interest in the posting are automatically invited to the event.

User Interface Changes

A new dropdown option, SAP Business Network Discovery, is added to the Invite suppliers dropdown in the Suppliers section in a guided sourcing draft event.

A new page, Find new suppliers, opens when you select the SAP Business Network Discovery option from the Invite suppliers dropdown.

A new page, Create posting, opens when you choose the Create SAP Business Network Discovery posting button in the Find new suppliers page.

SS-47048: Prevent Project Owners from Adding Unspecified Users and Groups to Review and Approval Tasks in Guided Sourcing

Technical Details

  • Applicable Products
    • SAP Ariba Sourcing
    • SAP Ariba Strategic Sourcing Suite
  • User Type
    • Buyer
  • Enablement Model
    • Automatically on

Description

This feature enables template administrators to create guided sourcing templates that restrict the project owners from adding users and groups that are not specified in the template to the review and approval tasks in full projects, events, and sourcing requests.

Customer Benefits

This feature helps customers with compliance and regulatory requirements by restricting project owners' actions on review and approval tasks so that only a specific set of users or groups can be assigned to them.

Prerequisites

  • This feature is supported only in the guided sourcing user interface. To use this feature in the guided sourcing user interface, your site must have guided sourcing enabled and you must be a member of the Category Buyer group.
  • You must be a member of the global Template Creator group or the Templates project’s Template Creators team group to create or edit templates.

Feature Details

Changes to Existing Functionality

Previously, there was no option to restrict the project owners from adding users and groups that are not specified in the template to the review and approval tasks in full projects, events, and sourcing requests.

Now, template administrators can configure the guided sourcing templates so that the project owners are restricted from adding users and groups that are not specified in the template to the review and approval tasks in full projects, events, and sourcing requests. Only the users and groups that are specified in the guided sourcing template for the review and approval tasks are available in the corresponding full projects, events, and sourcing requests.

User Interface Changes

A new rule, Prevent project owners from adding users/groups to review/approval tasks in guided sourcing, is added with the Yes and No options for the review and approval tasks in the following guided sourcing templates:

  • Full project
  • Sourcing request
  • Events
    • Request for proposal
    • Request for information
    • Forward auction
    • Reverse auction

By default, the Prevent project owners from adding users/groups to review/approval tasks in guided sourcing rule is set to No.

If you set the Prevent project owners from adding users/groups to review/approval tasks in guided sourcing rule to Yes, the Edit button does not appear in the Task type and process panel's Approval flow area in the inherited approval and review tasks for full projects, events, and sourcing requests in guided sourcing.

SS-49324: Scoutbee Supplier Discovery Integration with Guided Sourcing

Technical Details

  • Applicable Products
    • SAP Ariba Sourcing
    • SAP Ariba Strategic Sourcing Suite
  • User Type
    • Buyer
  • Enablement Model
    • Automatically on

Description

This feature enables you to integrate Scoutbee Supplier Discovery capabilities with guided sourcing.

Buyers using guided sourcing can utilize Scoutbee Supplier Discovery to expand their supplier network beyond their established SAP Ariba supplier network and invite new suppliers to participate in guided sourcing events.

Customer Benefits

Customers will now be able to discover new suppliers by publishing a supplier discovery demand request to Scoutbee Supplier Discovery. The demand request is processed by Scoutbee through both automated and manual processes and a list of suppliers matching the demand is provided to the customer in guided sourcing.

Prerequisites

  • This feature is supported only in the guided sourcing user interface.
  • Your solution package must include SAP Ariba Supplier Lifecycle and Performance or SAP Ariba Supplier Information and Performance Management (new architecture).
  • A member of the Customer Administrator group must enable the Intelligent Configuration Manager (ICM) parameter Application.AQS.Scoutbee.Enabled and configure the following ICM parameters:
    • Application.AQS.Scoutbee.IntelligenceURL
    • Application.AQS.Scoutbee.OAuthAudience
    • Application.AQS.Scoutbee.OAuthClientId
    • Application.AQS.Scoutbee.OAuthClientSecret
    • Application.AQS.Scoutbee.OAuthGrantType
    • Application.AQS.Scoutbee.OAuthURL
    • Application.AQS.Scoutbee.ServiceURL
    • Application.AQS.Scoutbee.SupplierProfileUrl
  • In order to use the Scoutbee Supplier Discovery functionality, a Scoutbee license is required.

Restrictions

Scoutbee Supplier Discovery requests may take up to 48 hours to return results.

Feature Details

Changes to Existing Functionality

While creating a guided sourcing event, users can select the down arrow next to Invite suppliers and then Scoutbee Supplier Discovery to submit a demand request and fetch supplier recommendations from Scoutbee.

User Interface Changes

The down arrow next to Invite suppliers in the Suppliers section of a draft sourcing event now includes the Scoutbee Supplier Discovery option.

The Find new suppliers page now includes the Scoutbee Supplier Discovery dashboard.

Administrator Information

A Customer Administrator user must enable the ICM parameter Application.AQS.Scoutbee.Enabled and configure the following ICM parameters:

Note

Values for these parameters are provided by Scoutbee representative. If you require assistance in obtaining these parameter values, contact your Scoutbee account manager. You can also contact the Scoutbee support team.

  • Application.AQS.Scoutbee.OAuthAudience
  • Application.AQS.Scoutbee.OAuthClientId
  • Application.AQS.Scoutbee.OAuthClientSecret
  • Application.AQS.Scoutbee.OAuthGrantType
  • Application.AQS.Scoutbee.OAuthURL
  • Application.AQS.Scoutbee.ServiceURL
  • Application.AQS.Scoutbee.SupplierProfileUrl
  • Application.AQS.Scoutbee.IntelligenceURL

Note

Values for Application.AQS.Scoutbee.OAuthClientid and Application.AQS.Scoutbee.OAuthClientSecret are unique to each site.

URL values for some of these parameters vary for test and productive environments.

Related Resources

Information about all the new or changed features in the SAP Ariba 2402 release is available in What's New in SAP Procurement and SAP Business Network.

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