What are the new general features for SAP Ariba apps:

• Rename Ariba Exchange User Community to Help Center – Ariba Exchange User Community has been renamed Help Center. And notifications have been replaced with Help Center.
• Ability to approve configuration packages before deployment in Intelligent Configuration Manager – Administrators as approvers can approve packages before deploying to the production site. This is a new separate step. All deployed packages and deployments are now visible in new tile Packages.

What´s new in SAP Ariba Strategic Sourcing and Supplier Management solutions:

• Request and check for attachments in suppliers' email responses – This feature allows buyers to indicate that an attachment is expected in supplier response emails in a full sourcing project. If the attachment is missing SAP Ariba Sourcing sends an email notification to the suppliers.
• Alternative pricing bids for service items and lots – New changes allow participants to submit alternative pricing bids for service items and lots.
• Search suppliers by ID – Now a buyer can search suppliers by Supplier ID to invite them to events. It is useful to find a supplier by ID when a supplier list includes multiple suppliers with the same name.
• Support for Excel file based email bidding for RFP and RFI events – This feature allows the supplier according to invitation e-mail from buyers to enter their responses to the event in the Excel file and click the Email response link in the email to submit the bid to SAP Ariba Sourcing. The Excel file from a supplier is added to the content section of the event in SAP Ariba Sourcing.
• Product questionnaires – This feature changes the step in SAP Ariba Strategic Sourcing Suite when questions added to a sourcing event are associated only with the event and not with line items. Now it is possible to added questions at line item level as part of a new object called a product questionnaire. The questions can now also be made mandatory for specific line items.
• Allow the supplier to change the currency after bidding on a sourcing event – Change in SAP Ariba Strategic Sourcing Suite and SAP Ariba Sourcing when it was not possible to go back and change the submitted bid for an event. Now, suppliers can change the bid currency themselves after a bid is submitted.
• Support for notes with SAP S/4HANA integration – The buyers can now send and receive information to and from suppliers as notes in sourcing requests. The notes are text fields that are imported from SAP S/4HANA to SAP Ariba Strategic Sourcing solutions. The suppliers can add comments during the bidding process. SAP Ariba sends the comments from the suppliers back to SAP S/4HANA.
• Autofill simple RFQ terms from previous RFQs – SAP Ariba Strategic Sourcing Suite now automatically identifies the last existing simple RFx event with the same materials and suppliers when buyers create simple RFx events for multiple materials. The existing RFx event is automatically prepopulated to the new event.

What´s new in SAP Ariba Procurement solutions:

• Header fields and attachments integration for quick sourcing from requisitions – In the buying solutions, buyers can initiate sourcing requests directly from a purchase requisition to explore various supplier options in SAP Ariba Sourcing. Buyers get the best purchase deals before submitting the requisition for approval. When a buyer creates a requisition and initiates quick sourcing, details from the requisition are sent to the sourcing request that is created in SAP Ariba Sourcing.
• Copy receipts processing optimization – Very slow time of processing of a large number of orders and receipts which are created in external ERP systems are downloaded into Ariba Network and routed to SAP Ariba Invoice Management was significantly reduce.
• Identifying the procurement operations desk agent processing the requisition in procurement operations desk – Change of process when previously informed about the procurement agent which will approve the PR was not displayed to requisition preparer and requisition preparer could not contact the procurement agent. Now the requisition preparer can use this information to contact the assigned agent when a requisition is created.
• Support editability of Custom forms by approvers in a classic approval Workflow – This feature is primarily for approvers. Sometimes approvers need to make necessary changes to forms before approving them and this feature allows it. The ability to edit forms will be based on editability rules configured in SAP Ariba Procurement solutions.
• Automatically reject approved invoices canceled by the ERP system in SAP Ariba Buying and Invoicing – This feature is available for SAP Ariba Buying and Invoicing solution which changes the process when sometimes buyers cancel or reject an invoice in the external ERP system after the invoice is reconciled in the SAP Ariba solution. A new web service, Invoice reconciliation status from the external system, receives the invoice cancelation information from the ERP system.
• Make invoice data available for reporting – Now in the reporting you can see when a user has approved or denied an invoice, the amount ordered, tax value, or information about the supplier.
• Line-item debit and credit memo enhancements – With this feature allows suppliers to create line-item credit and debit memos against invoices that are created from service entry sheets. These changes apply to line-item credit memos and debit memos that are created online in Ariba Network, received through cXML, uploaded using CSV format.
• Quote expiration and reusability – now the suppliers can specify the date on which the quote expires and indicate whether the quote the customer can be used in multiple requests in SAP Ariba Buying and SAP Ariba Buying and invoices.

Where to find more information?

 SAP Ariba Q2 2020 new features

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 Web form

Related sources

Read more about the solutions in Supplier Management line of business and their respective success stories.