Managing Internal and External Registrations

Internal supplier registration is useful in cases where you want to onboard and work with a supplier that is low-volume or one-time, is not tech-savvy, or where you otherwise want to register a supplier without requiring them to create an account on the Ariba Network and complete external questionnaires.

The internal supplier registration feature allows internal users to fill out external questionnaires on behalf of the supplier in a supplier registration project.

• Alternatively, administrators can import a registration status of Registered for existing suppliers without creating a supplier registration project.

Internal registrations use the existing supplier registration project template, but the registration manager who starts the registration selects an internal recipient rather than a supplier contact for external questionnaires.

1. A user with the appropriate permissions starts the internal registration and sends the questionnaire to an internal recipient from the Registration area on the supplier's 360° profile.
2. Notifications let the internal recipient know that they have been invited to register on behalf of the supplier and provide a link to the questionnaire.
3. The internal recipient answers the registration questionnaire.
4. Notifications let the internal stakeholders know if they need to complete other tasks, then the internal stakeholders complete their tasks (if your company’s registration process includes additional tasks.)
5. Notifications let the approvers know that the registration requires approval. They can also see outstanding registrations using Manage → My Tasks on the dashboard. The approvers review the registration and approve or deny it. Approvers can request additional information from the supplier before approving or denying the registration.
6. Notifications let the internal recipient know when the registration has been approved, denied, or requires more information.
7. When a supplier registration is approved, the supplier’s registration status is Registered. Depending on your site's integration settings, the supplier might be synchronized with your ERP vendor master list either when the supplier is in the registration process or after the registration has been approved.

After a new supplier is created, you can send one or more registration questionnaires to a supplier contact. The new supplier may have been created in the following ways:

• From an approved supplier request
• Manual data import by an administrator
• Integration with ERP

The external supplier registration process is used to:

• Solicit detailed profile information from supplier (commodities supplied, bank and tax details, etc.)
• Give the supplier access to provide ongoing updates to their profile (name, address, etc.)
• Collect internally-managed data (company codes, purchasing organizations, payment terms, etc.)

The supplier registration project template defines the process by which your company gathers and maintains detailed profile information about suppliers from both internal and supplier users.

Both new and existing suppliers participate in the supplier registration process because it gives a supplier access to the information you want the supplier to manage.

• For new suppliers, registration establishes a link between your company’s SAP Ariba site and the supplier’s Ariba Network account

During registration, a supplier logs into their existing account or creates a new account on Ariba Network. Ariba Network offers two types of supplier accounts:

• Standard account
  • Basic functionality, such as participating in supplier lifecycle processes, responding to sourcing events, collaborating on contract documents, and receiving purchase orders via email
  • Free
• Enterprise account
  • Advanced capabilities, such as offering catalog content, supply chain collaboration, and receiving purchase orders via an online dashboard
  • Fees apply

A supplier can participate in supplier lifecycle processes with a standard account.

• Formal "enablement" process not required

1. A user with the appropriate permissions invites the supplier to register and sends the questionnaire (in sites where invitation is not automatic) from the Registration area on the supplier's 360° profile.
2. Notifications let the requesting user know when the registration process has started.
3. Notifications let the supplier know that they have been invited to register and provide a link to the questionnaire.
4. The supplier registers for an Ariba Network account (or logs into an existing account) and answers the registration questionnaire.
5. Notifications let the internal stakeholders know if they need to complete other tasks, then the internal stakeholders complete their tasks (if your company’s registration process includes additional tasks.)
6. Notifications let the approvers know that the registration requires approval. They can also see outstanding registrations using Manage → My Tasks on the dashboard. The approvers review the registration and approve or deny it. Approvers can request additional information from the supplier before approving or denying the registration.
7. Notifications let the supplier know when the registration has been approved, denied, or requires more information.
8. When a supplier registration is approved, the supplier’s registration status is Registered. Depending on your site's integration settings, the supplier might be synchronized with your ERP vendor master list either when the supplier is in the registration process or after the registration has been approved.

After the supplier is internally registered:

• Internal users can update the registration as necessary
• A registration manager can transfer responsibility to the supplier by inviting them to participate in the registration, at which point the supplier must create an account or log in to an existing account on Ariba Network to access and update the external questionnaires

After the initial registration for a supplier has been approved, the supplier contact can update their registration questionnaire responses via the Ariba Network.

The supplier registration template supports different process flows for initial registration and registration updates.

• Phases define separate workflows
  • If a separate approval task for updates is not defined, updates are automatically added to the supplier 360°
• Project conditions can show or hide questionnaire content based on the registration scenario

Denying updates to the registration questionnaire:

• Does not change the supplier’s overall registration status (remains Registered)
• Prevents updates from being added to the supplier's profile

When a supplier is initially invited to register, the registration questionnaire is open for the amount of time you define in the template survey document's timing rules. Once the supplier submits the questionnaire the first time, it closes automatically. Later, the supplier can navigate to the questionnaire on Ariba Network for Suppliers and update their answers.

Supplier registration projects support the use of two elements to manage separate sets of tasks for new registrations and registration updates:

• Phases: The supplier registration template supports the use of two phases, one for new registrations and one for updates. These phases can contain different approval and other tasks to define separate workflows for the different registration scenarios.
• Specialized project conditions: The supplier registration template supports creating conditions based on new and updated registration status. You can apply these conditions to the registration questionnaire to show or hide different content based on whether the supplier is registering for the first time or updating their responses.

Denying updates to the registration questionnaire does not change the supplier's overall registration status; it does mean that the updates are not added to the supplier's profile.

1. The supplier logs into Ariba Network for Suppliers and opens the buyer’s registration questionnaire.
2. The supplier updates one or more answers in the registration questionnaire, and submits them. The supplier remains in Registered registration status, and now has Pending Approval registration update status. Registration update status is not displayed in the supplier's 360° profile, but can be used to create conditions in the registration project.
3. Notifications let the internal stakeholders know if they need to complete other tasks (if your company’s registration process includes additional tasks) and let the approvers know that the registration update requires approval. They can also see outstanding registrations using Manage → My Tasks on the dashboard. The approvers review the registration update and approve or deny it. Approvers can request additional information from the supplier before approving or denying the registration update.
4. If the updates are approved, they are added to the supplier profile. If the updates are denied, they are not. In either case, the supplier remains in Registered registration status, but will have Approved or Denied registration update status.