Examining the Stipulations of SAP Ariba Supplier Lifecycle (SLP) Integration

If you are a customer using SAP ERP, SAP S/4HANA (on-premise), or SAP Master Data Governance for integration of supplier data managed in SAP Ariba Supplier Lifecycle and Performance or SM Administration using the Managed Gateway for Spend&Network, the following prerequisites apply for supplier data integration:

• The necessary SAP Ariba Supplier Lifecycle and Performance features are enabled. To achieve this, an SR or a Ticket must be filed
• The Managed Gateway is enabled on your SAP Ariba Sourcing/Supplier Lifecycle and Performance site
• SAP ERP 6.0 EhP 8 with Support Package 12 or higher
• SAP S/4HANA 1809 or higher
• SAP MDG 9.2 as AddOn for SAP ERP 6.0 EhP 8 with Support Package 12 or higher
• SAP MDG as AddOn for SAP S/4HANA 1809 (on-premise) or higher
• Any newer release of SAP ERP 6.0, SAP S/4HANA (on-premise), or SAP MDG

Older versions of SAP ERP, SAP S/4HANA (on-premise), or SAP MDG do not support the end-to-end scenario as a SAP standard solution. SAP does not recommend building any custom solution for unsupported software products or releases. This limitation is due to the difference in the data models used by Older versions of SAP Ariba and SAP ERP or SAP S/4HANA (on-premise).

Integration is only supported for the business partner supplier segment. Integration messages sent from SAP Ariba to the ERP system only include the supplier segment. Replication of data for other segments, such as customers, persons, and groups, from an SAP ERP system to SAP Ariba can result in data loss when SAP Ariba sends the data back to the ERP system.

Any updates (creation, change, or deletion) made to supplier data using the Business Partner transaction in SAP S/4HANA (on-premise) are not supported in the ARBCIG_CHANGEDOC table or the ARBCIG_MASTER_DATA_EXPORT report.

SAP Ariba Supplier Risk supports unidirectional integration, with supplier replication from the integrated ERP system to SAP Ariba Supplier Risk. However, it doesn't support synchronization of updates back to the ERP system.

Integration of SAP MDG-S with SAP Ariba solutions, including SAP Ariba Supplier Lifecycle and Performance and SAP Ariba Procurement solutions, is not currently supported with or without the guided buying capability.

Custom fields are not supported for integrating SAP MDG-S and SAP Ariba Supplier Lifecycle and Performance.

Buyers using the Direct Connectivity deployment option must ensure that the SAP Cloud Connector is properly configured to connect with their Managed Gateway account, as well as with their SAP ERP or SAP S/4HANA (on-premise) system.

For more information on configuring the SAP Cloud Connector, please refer to the SAP Integration Suite, Managed Gateway for Spend Management, and SAP Business Network Installation Guide.

You can find specific instructions in the Configuring SAP Cloud Connector section.

If you have a standalone SAP MDG-S system in your integration landscape, you must configure an RFC Destination to communicate from the SAP system to SAP MDG-S.

A general recommendation is to download and install the necessary software components for SAP Integration Suite, managed gateway for spend management, and SAP Business Network 1.0, Add-On for either SAP ERP or SAP S/4HANA (on-premise) from the SAP for Me portal.

The SAP Integration Suite, Managed Gateway for Spend Management, and SAP Business Network Installation Guide provide more information on how to download and install the AddOn. Navigate to:

Installing and Upgrading the Add-On for SAP ERP and SAP S/4HANA>Downloading and Installing the Add-On from SAP for Me>Downloading and Installing the Add-On for New Customers section.

The AddOn software component installed in your SAP system will help you with:

• Uploading the load balancer or SSL Server Certificate in the SAP Trust Manager.
• Configuring the Client Certificate for Certificate-Based Authentication in the SAP Trust Manager.
• Programmatically creating SOAMANAGER configurations to send and receive the supplier data creation and confirmation interfaces via the Interface Setup program.
• Programmatically sending the required SAP System Information to your Managed Gateway account.

Ensure you have maintained the necessary user authorizations using the authorization objects and classes provided by SAP Ariba.

The Integrating SAP MDG-S with SAP Ariba Supplier Lifecycle and Performance guide provides more information on user authorizations. Navigate to:

Install SAP Ariba CIG Add on>Defining Authorizations section.

The SAP Ariba Supplier Lifecycle and Performance integration with the SAP system supports various business scenarios. These scenarios help you send supplier data bidirectionally from SAP Ariba Supplier Lifecycle and Performance to the SAP system and vice versa.

When setting up SAP Ariba Supplier Lifecycle and Performance integration, there are some best practices to keep in mind in sites integrated with SAP MDG-S, including the use of some optional features and specific configurations in supplier request and registration project templates.