Describing SAP Ariba 2511 Release Features

Objective

After completing this lesson, you will be able to describe new or changed features for SAP Ariba Supplier Management in the SAP Ariba 2511 release.

New Transactional Use Cases for Approvals and Navigational Use Cases for AI Copilot Joule in SAP Ariba Supplier Lifecycle and Performance

Business Details

This feature adds navigational use cases for viewing supplier data and performing common supplier management activities, and transactional use cases for approvals, in SAP Ariba Supplier Lifecycle and Performance with AI copilot Joule. Users can get assistance from Joule for viewing supplier profiles, creating supplier request and modular questionnaire projects, finding out approval status for projects where they're an approver, and finding the projects that are pending their approval.

Implementation Details

General Prerequisites

Joule integration with SAP Ariba Supplier Lifecycle and Performance must be enabled.
To navigate to supplier profiles from Joule, including Open in App navigation, users in your SAP Ariba site must be members of the Joule Supplier Profile User group.
Users must have the appropriate permissions and project team roles for the specific use cases.
For navigation to supplier management project pages, the features and projects associated with the specific use cases must be set up in your site.

Business End User Tasks

This feature adds the following capabilities in Joule for supplier management:

Use Case Type	Use Case	Description	Example
Transactional	Tasks still pending approval	Displays a list of tasks pending approval by the current user, with options for approving or denying the tasks in Joule. Results include matching tasks in all project types. There's currently no way to filter the list by project type. Tasks in some supplier management projects also support a Request Additional Info option. You must navigate to the task details page if you want to use this option rather than approving or denying the task.	Show me tasks pending approval
Transactional	Check approval status	Displays the approval status and currently active approvers of the specified task. You must include the task's ID in the question	Check approval status for task TSK1234567
Navigational	View a supplier's profile	Displays the matching supplier or suppliers. Choose Open in App to view the supplier's profile. To find suppliers by ID, you must include the supplier's SM vendor ID in the question.	Show me the profile for supplier 12345678 Show me the profile for supplier ABC
Navigational	Create a supplier request	Displays a Create supplier request in app quick link that opens the supplier request form or questionnaire configured for your site, if you have permission to create supplier requests. The link opens either the standard supplier request or the Dun & Bradstreet-integrated supplier request, depending on which one your organization uses.	Take me to the page for creating a supplier request
Navigational	Send modular questionnaires to suppliers	Displays a Send modular questionnaires in app quick link that opens the first page in the workflow for inviting suppliers to standalone modular questionnaires, if you have permission to create modular questionnaire projects.	Take me to the page for creating a modular questionnaire

Technical Details

Product	SAP Ariba Supplier Lifecycle and Performance
Enablement	Automatically On
Reference Number	SLP-2288
User Type	Buyer

Supplier Eligibility Validation in Contract Workspaces

Business Details

This feature enables buyers to set supplier eligibility criteria using supplier registration and qualification statuses from SAP Ariba Supplier Lifecycle and Performance. It ensures that only suppliers who meet the specified eligibility criteria are included in a contract. These criteria can be validated during various stages, such as during contract creation, publication, or when transferring contract data and line items to integrated external systems like SAP ERP.

The supplier qualification status is maintained in SAP Ariba Supplier Lifecycle and Performance for a specific region and commodity combinations. Buyers can use this data to ensure that the supplier that they choose to include in a contract for a given commodity and region meets the specified eligibility criteria as defined in the project template.

Changes to the User Interface

A new section, Supplier Eligibility Criteria, is added to the contract workspace project templates. Administrators can set the supplier eligibility criteria in a template by navigating to Advanced Options→Supplier Eligibility Criteria.

The Supplier Eligibility Criteria section is highlighted in a contract workspace project template.

Implementation Details

General Prerequisites

Your solution package must include SAP Ariba Supplier Lifecycle and Performance.

Authorizations

You must be a member of the global Template Creator group or the template project’s Templates Creator team to create and edit templates.

Business End User Tasks

Depending on the supplier eligibility criteria in the contract workspace project template, you can validate supplier eligibility by performing one of the following tasks:

Create a contract workspace.
Publish a contract workspace.
Send contract data and line items in a contract workspace to an integrated external system.

Effects on Existing Data

Existing data remains unaffected because applying supplier eligibility criteria requires creating a new version of the template.

Technical Details

Product	SAP Ariba Contracts SAP Ariba Strategic Sourcing Suite SAP Ariba Supplier Lifecycle and Performance
Enablement	Automatically On
Reference Number	SCONTR-1445
User Type	Buyer

AI Copilot Joule in SAP Ariba Supplier Risk

Business Details

Joule, SAP's generative AI copilot, is now available in SAP Ariba Supplier Risk. Joule uses a conversational interface to help users complete tasks efficiently. It leverages generative and other AI technologies to understand natural language requests, identify intent, perform actions, and provide insights. Using generative AI, it can execute tasks, deliver tailored responses, and summarize information effectively.

Joule can assist you with your product-related questions by finding answers in the product documentation published on the SAP Help Portal. Along with the answers, it provides direct links to the relevant source documents, allowing you to explore the details further. You can also perform tasks such as viewing the details of a document or approving a document from within the Joule interface.

Changes to the User Interface

The Joule icon is now available in the top right of the shell bar. Clicking the icon brings up the Joule panel, where you can ask your questions.

Implementation Details

General Prerequisites

Joule must be integrated with SAP Ariba Supplier Risk.
An administrator must enable the configurable field Last Status Change Date in vendor data export.
Users must have the appropriate permissions and project team roles for the specific use cases.
The features and projects associated with the specific use cases must be set up in your site.

Technical Details

Product	SAP Ariba Supplier Risk
Enablement	Automatically On
Reference Number	SRISK-1848
User Type	Buyer

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