SAP Ariba Guided Sourcing

Recently SAP Ariba released guided sourcing, a more intuitive interface to help you setting up sourcing events quicker and easier. In comparison with the existing sourcing offering, there are some new user interface features available.

New Features
The most noticeable change is the single page event creation. In comparison to the original event configuration; the event rules, suppliers and content can be set up in one overview, as seen in the picture below. At the top of the page, a process flow is visible of all the steps to take during the sourcing event. In the create step the event duration, suppliers, and Items & requirements are shown as dropdown fields to have them as an overview on one page. At any point during the event creation, the user has instant access to SAP enable now for guidance during the event creation.

Selecting participants
When the event duration is set, the user can select participants for the event from the supplier dropdown field. If the Ariba Sourcing Solution contains the SLP module and the user has set the commodity and region for the event creation, a list of recommended suppliers will be shown before a search is executed. The SLP Module can qualify and set preferred levels for suppliers on different commodities and regions. By already providing this information Guided Sourcing will show the most suited suppliers to invite for the RFI/RFP, as shown in the picture above.

Another difference with the traditional sourcing event creation is the content, in the new interface line items are created in a different section from the questions, requirements, and attachments. For example, in this RFP a quote for car insurance is created. For the line item, only pricing information is involved. Questions about Own Risk and the amount can be provided as additional information in the questions, requirements, and attachments section, as shown in the picture below.

Monitoring
Also, the way events are monitored is changed within the Guided Sourcing user experience. In one overview it is possible to view the supplier participation, the duration, and the number of line items where participants can bid on. In the supplier participation chart the status of the participants can be viewed from: not yet viewed, Declined to participate, viewed but have not yet participated, to placed bids. The same way line items can be viewed in a chart having the status of items have at least one bid or not yet received, following the pricing and additional information from the participants in a side-by-side comparison, making it easier to award business to the right supplier.