​Strategic  Ariba  Assessment

How does an Ariba System Assessment work – and what exactly does it cover?

 

A strategic Ariba system assessment follows a clearly structured approach. It’s not just a technical review – it’s about understanding the real challenges you face in your daily work with Ariba. The assessment is divided into five key steps:

​

​

1. Listening – Your perspective comes first

 

The most important step at the beginning: we listen. You know best where things aren’t running smoothly in day-to-day operations. Tell us precisely and concisely which issues you encounter with Ariba. Your input gives us the first indications of potential system weaknesses and helps us identify where to look more closely.

​

​​

2. 2. Reviewing your processes: Ariba best practices or room for improvement?

 

For standard business processes, Ariba offers proven best practices – workflows that have been successfully used by thousands of customers. SAP continuously evolves Ariba and incorporates these global learnings directly into the solution.

Whenever possible, we recommend adopting these best-practice processes to ensure efficiency and long-term stability. In practice, however, we frequently see custom process variations that aren’t ideal from an Ariba perspective. In such cases, we work with you to develop concrete recommendations on how to replace or optimize these processes using best practices.

​​

​

3. Reviewing templates – the foundation must be solid

 

Are your Ariba templates configured correctly? Template configuration must follow strict structural rules that cannot be altered. Missing or incorrectly configured components often lead to system behavior that is difficult to diagnose.

A common challenge: Ariba doesn’t always display error messages for faulty configurations, which is why an experienced consultant is crucial.

​

The following templates are particularly critical:

• Supplier Request Template

• Supplier Registration Template

• Supplier Qualification Template
  (incl. Process Flow, Team Members, questionnaires, disqualification)

 

With the introduction of the new Process Flow Framework for qualifications, deep expertise has become even more important. Although it looks similar to legacy templates, trial-and-error configuration can have significant consequences – such as missing expiration dates or processes that cannot be restarted after completion. Professional experience is invaluable here.

​

​

4.   Authorization concept – clarity instead of role complexity

​

A full analysis of your role and authorization model is complex and usually part of a separate project. However, during the system review we can provide an initial, practical assessment:

• How many users have admin roles?
  Admin roles should be assigned sparingly – for both security and licensing reasons (SAP charges additional fees for these roles). A quick look at role distribution often reveals immediate optimization potential.

• How are your custom groups structured?
  Many companies create their own groups early in the project without fully understanding Ariba’s authorization model, which differs significantly from classic SAP structures. The result: unclear group names and permissions that are hard to interpret later. Two years after go-live, nobody may remember what “OUR_COMPANY_Buyers_Switzerland” was originally intended for.

• Are there duplicates of standard system groups?
  We check whether custom groups unnecessarily replicate the functionality of Ariba standard groups.

• How many hierarchy levels exist in your role model?
  Ariba follows a simple rule: the flatter, the better. Complex, layered role concepts are often undocumented, making administration and onboarding more difficult. With targeted sampling, we assess the actual complexity of your model.

​

​

5.   CSV files – has all essential data been imported?

 

Finally, we review your CSV files: have all required files been imported? Do they contain the expected data and structures? This step shows whether your Ariba configuration is complete or if key elements are missing.

​

Conclusion:

A strategic system assessment provides valuable initial insights into how your Ariba setup can be improved. We identify both fundamental weaknesses and quick wins – measures that deliver immediate value with minimal cost and effort.

For a deeper analysis including concrete solution proposals and effort estimates, a subsequent paid consulting engagement is required.