Preparing for Event Day Management

• Communicate clearly and often with your suppliers.
• Always use internal and Supplier Practice Auctions.
• Give your suppliers plenty of time to prepare.
• Tell your suppliers that they must know their starting bid and their final bid before the auction begins.

• Maximize your data before you decide.
  • Let the market data pinpoint where the competition is strongest.
  • Always collect an RFP price or prebid before the auction begins.
• Maximize the effect of the competition on all bid points.
• Review all cost components and variables that impact cost as potential bid points.

• E-mail suppliers 48 hours before either responses due or auction
• Confirm supplier status and follow up as required.
• Verify either intent to bid or intent to respond.
• Answer any remaining questions.
• Verify contact information with suppliers.
• Check voice mail and or regular e-mail for any supplier messages.
• Determine if any suppliers, such as surrogate bidders, need assistance.
• Track bidder activity, such as bids and responses.
• Take proactive action with delinquent suppliers.
• Contact the SAP Ariba helpdesk with any technical problems. For example, if suppliers are unable to log on.
• Remain logged on until completion.

The Sourcing Support Desk (SSD) allows you to request SAP Ariba resources to review your guided sourcing events in draft format and get recommendations for best practices in event setup. The EDM service enables SAP Ariba support to manage your sourcing events as an SAP Ariba Customer Support administrator, helping you run the sourcing events smoothly. This feature also enables you to delete auction bids in the event that participants submit an erroneous or unreasonable bid.

• SAP Ariba provides Event Day Management (EDM) services to each SAP Ariba Sourcing customer at no charge. The SAP Ariba Market Coordination team is responsible for delivering EDM services to all customers who don’t maintain their own EDM.

• The objective of EDM is to maintain the integrity of the market on each competitive event, ensuring that each participant is held to a fair standard. EDM also aims to maximize the participation on each event.

• Customers can choose to conduct their own EDM at any time during their contract with SAP Ariba. A designated support contact must make the request through a service request.

The SAP Ariba Market Coordination team, who specialize in the SAP Ariba Sourcing product sourcing events, perform Event Day Management tasks.

A market integrity specialist can perform 11 EDM functions. Each function is paired with a set of policies and best practices that are outlined by SAP Ariba Support.

1. Remove a bid from an event.
2. Lock/Unlock a participant
3. Send messages to the market.
4. Extend/Reduce event timing
5. Pause/Resume an event
6. Close/Cancel an event in progress
7. Reopen an event.
8. Initiate a critical issue notification.
9. Suspend an event.
10. Place a surrogate bid.
11. Assign a Direct Line for an event.