SAP Business Network is a cloud-based business-to-business (B2B) trading platform and supplier network offered by SAP. SAP Business Network is designed to facilitate and streamline procurement and supply chain processes for organizations of all sizes, from small businesses to large enterprises.
SAP Business Network includes both a testing environment and a production environment, enabling seamless interaction between buyers and trading partners. Notably, there is no development Environment provided within SAP Business Network.
SAP S/4HANA Cloud, public edition
SAP S/4HANA Cloud, public edition, is an advanced, ready-to-run cloud ERP solution that harnesses the latest industry best practices along with continuous innovation. Customers have the advantage of staying ahead in their respective industries by accessing the newest business processes and technological innovations through semi-annual release upgrades in August and February, meticulously and automatically implemented in customer systems by SAP according to a predefined release schedule.
Clients have the flexibility to choose between a 2-system or 3-system landscape based on their operational needs and complexity. This choice underscores the solution's adaptability, ensuring that businesses of varying sizes and with different demands can tailor the ERP system to fit their specific requirements. Moreover, the cloud nature of SAP S/4HANA Cloud, public edition, guarantees scalability and agility, enabling organizations to adapt quickly to market changes or internal growth.
SAP Integration Suite, managed gateway
SAP Integration Suite, managed gateway for spend management and SAP Business Network, offers a streamlined Integration-as-a-Service (IaaS) solution. It leverages SAP Business Technology Platform (BTP) functionality via a public tenant in various regional data centers and functions as a gateway to connect buyers' SAP ERP or SAP S/4HANA Cloud systems with SAP Business Network.
There is a single buyer account that serves in each environment, test and production. The Integration Suite, managed gateway account is accessible through the buyer account login.
In order to login into the Integration Suite, managed gateway account execute these steps:
- Log on to the SAP Business Network production buyer account (buyer.ariba.com).
- Click Account Settings → Manage Profile.
- Click SAP Integration Suite, managed gateway for spend management and SAP Business Network Setup.
When you log in to the production environment, you can simultaneously manage both the test and production environments.
SAP Cloud ALM
SAP Cloud ALM is a complete Application Lifecycle Management (ALM) suite designed for buyers primarily utilizing cloud solutions. It provides comprehensive implementation and operational features for cloud solutions.
In the context of the SAP Business Network Supplier Portal, SAP Cloud ALM plays a crucial role in aiding project management and implementation. To streamline the end-to-end integration across all systems, SAP Cloud ALM provides a set of pre-defined tasks arranged in the right sequence, customized to your specific business needs. You can review and follow these tasks along with their descriptions. Additionally, these tasks may include associated resources like accelerators and e-learning materials to assist you in independently carrying out these activities.
From an operational standpoint and within the context of integration with SAP Business Network, SAP Cloud ALM can also provide support for monitoring and exception handling for business transactions.
SAP For Me
SAP for Me is the one-stop digital platform for buyers to use a variety of self-service tools to manage their systems, solutions, support cases, and more. SAP for Me is an essential resource at the beginning of an implementation because the buyer system admin will use the Systems & Provisioning dashboard to provision the SAP Business Network Buyer Account.
Other areas of SAP For Me:
SAP Identity Services
SAP Cloud Identity Services run on the SAP Business Technology Platform and include both the Identity Authentication Service (IAS) and Identity Provisioning Service (IPS). Collectively, these services provide a single sign-on (SSO) experience across buyer’s SAP systems and ensure that system and data access are secure.
SAP Roadmap Viewer
The Roadmap Viewer is a key tool that gives you access to the steps and plans for setting up SAP solutions through the SAP Activate method. It shows a clear outline of the tasks, outcomes, and actions your project teams need to take, along with helpful resources in the form of documents and links. The content makes it easier to keep an eye on all the important tasks and goals for your SAP projects while navigating you through the different project stages.
Tasks can include accelerator assets in both document and hyperlink formats.
The content can be imported into a SAP Cloud ALM tenant for easier access and use.
SAP Central Business Configuration
SAP Central Business Configuration is a tool introduced by SAP to simplify and centralize the configuration and setup of business processes and applications across the SAP ecosystem. It aims to streamline the process of configuring and maintaining SAP solutions, making it more efficient and user-friendly.
In a setup using S/4HANA Cloud, public edition, SAP Central Business Configuration helps move items from one S/4HANA Cloud system to the next.
Key components of the SAP Central Business Configuration:
- Project Experience: Indicates guidance through SAP Cloud implementations.
- Scoping: Involves defining the solution scope by selecting countries/regions, languages, business processes, and solution capabilities.
- Organizational Structure: Refers to setting up and maintaining a company's organizational structure.
- Pre-configuration Content: This is fueled by the available SAP Best Practices pre-configuration content.
- Configuration: Tailor business processes to meet a company's specific requirements.
