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This page includes a list of features planned for the SAP Ariba March 2018 release. Detailed information on all features can be found in the release guides and other documentation located on SAP Ariba Connect. Supplemental knowledge transfer materials are available for some features. For additional information, visit the Release Readiness tile on SAP Ariba Connect.
| Strategic Procurement | ||
| Feature | Description | Solutions |
| Read-Only Terms in Line Items | With this feature, customers can make terms of line items in sourcing and contracts as read-only. | SAP Ariba Sourcing SAP Ariba Contracts |
| Expose Header Level Text to suppliers in an integrated sourcing event | In Integration scenarios, there is a need to map ERP Text at Header level for Sourcing Requests or Projects. Moreover, there has to be a visibility control that needs to be automatically set based on ERP data. | SAP Ariba Sourcing |
| Validation of Master Data | At the point of amending and publishing a contract, this feature checks and informs users for changes that might have occurred in the associated back-end master data since the contract was last published. | SAP Ariba Contracts |
| Mass edit of the Release Creator and Release Approver fields | This feature enhances the project mass edit functionality by adding support for the Release Creator and Release Approver fields in contract workspaces. Mass edit changes to these two fields are synced to the Release Approver and Release Access Users fields in the integrated compliance contracts. These enhancements allow customers to make changes to the users with release access and release approval privileges without having to amend the contract workspace. | SAP Ariba Contracts |
| Include the contracts ID from operational procurement system in the CLID Excel and webservice exports | This feature enables the Contracts Line Item Excel and webservice exports to include contract IDs from the operational procurement system. | SAP Ariba Contracts |
| Repeatable Section for Supplier Questionnaire | This features adds the ability to organize one or more questions in a repeatable section, which - when send in a questionnaire to a supplier - allows the supplier to respond to the entire section multiple times. The buyer can review the submitted information sets in an easy-to-read tabular view. As part of the integration to ERP, SLP maps all response sets to the repeatable section dynamically to the SOAP message. Note: Repeatable section is only supported in supplier facing questionnaires. |
SAP Ariba Supplier Lifecycle and Performance SAP Ariba Supplier Information and Performance Management (new architecture) |
| Supplier Management Migration Tools; Auto-Migration | This feature enhances existing migration tools by supporting automatic migration of supplier organizations, supplier users and SPQ data from strategic sourcing application into the new architecture of supplier management (Supplier Lifecycle and Performance, or Supplier Information & Performance Management). | SAP Ariba Supplier Lifecycle and Performance SAP Ariba Supplier Information and Performance Management (new architecture) |
| SLP bi-directional vendor replication with S/4HANA On Premise | Business Partner webservice integration is available natively in SLP, supporting either direct or mediated connectivity (i.e. via SAP PI or similar middleware). This release includes the validation of bi-directional replication of vendor master data using the Business Partner web services between SAP Ariba SLP and SAP S/4HANA on premise 1610. | SAP Ariba Supplier Lifecycle and Performance SAP Ariba Supplier Information and Performance Management (new architecture) |
| Open API - Supplier Management Questionnaire Data | This feature introduces a new API as part of the SAP Ariba Open API Framework that enables customer to query Ariba SLP for questionnaire data, including question ID, question label, response/value, and mapped technical database field. | SAP Ariba Supplier Lifecycle and Performance SAP Ariba Supplier Information and Performance Management (new architecture) |
| Operational Procurement | ||
| Feature | Description | Solutions |
| Mask Price (Undisclosed Price) in Order Confirmations (Services) | This feature extends the Ariba Network capabilities for Hide Price on Purchase Orders feature (released January, 2018) to the Order Confirmation document for orders originating from either the ERP, SAP Ariba Buying, or SAP Ariba Buying and Invoicing solution for Services orders. |
Ariba Network SAP Ariba Commerce Automation SAP Ariba Supply Chain Collaboration SAP Ariba Buying SAP Ariba Buying and Invoicing |
| Delivery date value considered in fully confirmed line items validation | Through a new sub rule, Ariba Network checks now whether the supplier's delivery or completion date for a line item matches the buyer's need-by date from the order. If the dates are different, the line item is not considered fully confirmed, meaning it can't be added to a ship notice, a service sheet, or an invoice. | Ariba Network |
| Comments from Receipts included in autogenerated Credit Memos | Comments included in negative Receipts (Return or Received reversal) are now flipped into the auto-generated Credit Memo in AN. | Ariba Network |
| Hungarian e-invoicing enhancements | This feature contains a couple of enhancements to provide more intuitive and robust e-invoice localization according to the Hungarian local requirements. | Ariba Network |
| Tax invoicing line-item debit memo for Chile | Ariba Network now allows LIDM for Chilean Tax Invoicing, with regards to material or service invoices as generated through the Ariba Network user interface or through integrated invoices. | Ariba Network/Commerce Automation/Invoice Automation |
| Self-billing / Evaluated Receipt Settlement | Ariba Network currently supports a self-billing process called Evaluated Receipt Settlement (ERS). Based on contractual agreement, the buyer creates invoices on behalf of the supplier based on goods received. This feature adds functionality around integrity and authenticity, labeling, and country-specific acceptance processes of self-billing invoices, including: - An indicator in the cXML to identify an invoice as a self-billing invoice for legal purposes. - New Self-Billing label on the invoice (in the user interface and on the PDF). - Signed invoice propagated to the buyer. This feature is applied to countries where this process is accepted. Acceptance processes is handled within the "paper" agreement prior using the Self-Billing process in Ariba Network. |
Ariba Network/Commerce Automation/Invoice Automation |
| Price adjustment for integrated line-item credit memo and line-item debit memo | Currently, Ariba Network suppliers can use a line-item credit memo (LICM) to correct the purchase order history if the quantity invoiced was too high or if part of the quantity was returned. However, suppliers also need to update the ordering transaction on the price basis, which can be an increased invoiced amount (line-item debit memo or LIDM) or a reduced invoiced amount (LICM). New invoice transaction rules have been added that control whether buyers allow LIDM and LICM on price adjustments. These rules allow integrated suppliers to send LIDM and LICM on price adjustments through cXML. Note: Suppliers can't create LIDM and LICM on price adjustments in the Ariba Network user interface yet. | Ariba Network/Commerce Automation/Invoice Automation |
| Price adjustment for line-item credit memo and debit memo | New invoice transaction rules have been added that control whether buyers allow suppliers to create line-item credit memos and debit memos to make price adjustments to invoices. Suppliers can use a line-item credit memo to correct invoices in which quantities were too high or some items were returned. | Ariba Network/Commerce Automation/Invoice Automation |
| Restrict partial credits for invoices | Suppliers can create partial or fully line-item credit memo through the UI in AN. However there are agreements between trading partners where partial credit memos are not allowed to avoid reconciliation issues only “cancel” invoices through a credit memo for the full amount on the invoice. | Ariba Network/Commerce Automation/Invoice Automation |
| Receipts not required to invoice Blanket Orders Note: This feature will not be available with the March 2018 release, it will be available in a later release. |
Previously, the invoicing rule "Require suppliers to include only received quantities on invoices" included blanket purchase orders in its validation. However, with blanket purchase orders there are not goods receipts. Consequently, when the rule was enabled blanket purchase orders couldn't be invoiced. Now, blanket purchase orders are ignored by this rule providing alignment with SAP ECC behavior. | Ariba Network/Commerce Automation/Invoice Automation Ariba Network/Commerce Automation/PO Automation |
| Apply catalog content enrichment rules across select suppliers | With this feature, catalog managers can create content rules that are applicable to a select group of suppliers versus applying the content rules across all suppliers. | SAP Ariba Catalog SAP Ariba Buying SAP Ariba Buying and Invoicing |
| Saved search functionality for Queue and To Do searches | After searching for items in queues and in the To Do list, you can now save the search criteria including the approvable type, and the search terms. The searches will be saved by the approvable type and the selected search terms only, and the queue selection will not be included. When this feature is enabled, the ability to save searches will be available in both the Manage Queues and the Manage To Do pages. You will be able to manage the saved searches, which allows you to refine them or delete them. | SAP Ariba Buying SAP Ariba Buying and Invoicing |
| Validate and enrich contract request data in an external system | The validate and enrich contract request data in an external system feature enables the export of contract request data to an external system for processing, including validating the data and enriching it if needed. This feature can be used to validate and enrich data in header, line, and accounting fields. If you have configured complex validation for data in your external system, you can use it to validate contract request data from your SAP Ariba Buying solutions in real time. Contract request data is sent to the external system based on specific actions or events in the contract request workflow and validation status is received from the external system. This includes validation error information, if present. The validation errors are displayed in the contract request page for you to view and take appropriate action. | SAP Ariba Buying SAP Ariba Buying and Invoicing |
| Make selection of supplier optional for Service line items | During Requisition create time, the user can now submit a service line item without a supplier being specified. The supplier is mandatory before last approver, however. | SAP Ariba Buying SAP Ariba Buying and Invoicing |
| Auto generation of requisitions for fixed/recurring fee items of a release order contract | This feature enables the auto generation of purchase requisitions (PR) for the fixed/recurring fee items of a release order contract. The no-release contract provides customers a way to receive against and/or invoice against a specific contract. This feature introduces a similar provision to create a requisition against a contract, which is useful, especially when there is a long term contract for fixed/recurring fee items. Auto generation of requisitions is supported only for fixed/recurring fee items, on release order contracts of the Item Level type. In addition, the only hierarchical type supported is Standalone Agreement. Blanket Purchase Orders are also not supported. | SAP Ariba Buying SAP Ariba Buying and Invoicing |
| Validate and Enrich Invoice Data in an External System | Complex validation logic exists in external systems like ERP. SAP Ariba procurement customers can leverage the logic/configurations already built to validate Invoices. | SAP Ariba Buying SAP Ariba Buying and Invoicing |
| Send line-item credit and debit memos after invoice is received in ERP system | If the external ERP system receives a line-item credit memo or line-item debit memo before receiving the associated invoice, the line-item credit memo often fails in the ERP system. To prevent this situation, new invoice exception types alert invoice processors when the SAP Ariba solution receives a line-item credit memo or line-item debit memo before the associated invoice is received in the ERP system. As soon as the ERP system receives the invoice, the exceptions on the line-item credit or debit memo are resolved automatically. No manual intervention or approval is needed. | SAP Ariba Buying and Invoicing SAP Ariba Invoice Management |
| Auto-reconcile invoices on receiving full credit | When an invoicing solution from SAP Ariba receives a line-item credit memo for the full quantity of the invoice, any exceptions on the invoice reconciliation (IR) document are accepted automatically. This is because line-item credit memos for the full invoiced quantity serve the purpose of reversing the invoice. Automatically accepting the exceptions on the IR document prevents users from having to resolve them manually. | SAP Ariba Buying and Invoicing SAP Ariba Invoice Management |
| Automatically create invoice line items for ICS invoices from PO and receipt documents | This feature enables invoice line items to be automatically created for an Invoice Conversion Service (ICS) invoice, using the purchase order corresponding to the order number present in the header of the cXML request, as well as the corresponding receipt document. It allows customers to submit electronic invoices that do not contain any line item information to Ariba Network. These invoices, which are typically generated from scanned paper invoices by invoice conversion service providers, will be sent to SAP Ariba cloud solutions for further processing. They are sent with only the header level information, and the line items will be added to the invoice automatically in the SAP Ariba cloud solution, if there are no errors. If there are any errors, designated approvers are added to the approval flow. These approvers must correct the information on the invoice and approve it. |
SAP Ariba Buying and Invoicing SAP Ariba Invoice Management |
| Invoice exceptions by invoice type | Each invoice exception type includes a field for limiting the types of invoices the exception type applies to. An invoice exception type can be applied to all invoice types or be restricted to one or more specific invoice types, such as credit memos or standard invoices. If you limit an exception type to specific types of invoices, an exception is raised only for the invoice types you specify, increasing flexibility for the invoice reconciliation processes. | SAP Ariba Buying and Invoicing SAP Ariba Invoice Management |
| Improved categorization of search results | With this feature all search results are returned on one page and are broken out by catalog items, spot buy items, suppliers, and forms. | SAP Ariba Buying, with the guided buying capability SAP Ariba Buying and Invoicing, with the guided buying capability |
| Support for Tax API with Total Landed Cost | With this feature, total landed cost is now supported in GB when using the tax API feature (introduced with the Q2 2017 release). This feature takes advantage of the current tax API supported in the SAP Ariba Buying, SAP Ariba Buying and Invoicing, and SAP Ariba Invoice Management solutions and requires no additional effort to enable in Guided Buying beyond the initial effort to enable the tax API feature in Ariba Buying. | SAP Ariba Buying, with the guided buying capability SAP Ariba Buying and Invoicing, with the guided buying capability |
|
Feature |
Description |
Solutions |
| BOM Roll-ups and Costing Note: This feature will not be available with the March 2018 release. It will be included in a later release. |
Updates and fine tuning to the currently existing BOM Roll up and costing functionality. | SAP Ariba Strategic Sourcing Suite |
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Platform & Technology |
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Feature |
Description |
Solutions |
| Ability to import external source data into Custom Forms in bulk | Buyers can upload form documents in bulk instead of entering each one manually. Upload form documents from a CSV or JSON file to an active form design in Ariba Administrator. By importing form documents in bulk, you can automatically fill out and submit SAP Ariba form documents based on data you've created in other systems. When documents are imported, they're submitted on behalf of the user specified in the Requester field of the import file. The import task lets you choose whether to auto-approve imported documents or have them go through the approval flow. (The 1k limit is listed in the Limitations section of the release guide topic for this feature.) |
SAP Ariba Buying and Invoicing SAP Ariba Buying SAP Ariba Invoice Management SAP Ariba Contract Invoicing SAP Ariba Catalog |
| Disable email notifications to large groups | Some email notifications are sent to users who belongs to a certain Group. Depending on configuration, this would lead to unwanted email notifications being sent to a user group with very large number of members. This feature enables a way to limit email notifications to be sent to large groups. A new parameter, "Application.ACM.TaskEmailGroupLimit", will control whether or not we will send to a group based on a number of users limit. This feature and parameter only applies to task-related notification emails and does not affect emails being sent to groups as part of an approval workflow. | SAP Ariba Sourcing SAP Ariba Contracts |
| Enhancements to invoice approval and invoice search | This Feature is a combination of two enhancements to Invoices 1. If the invoice approver needs to edit the invoice prior to approving, s/he can do it in a single step 2. When searching for invoices for an approver, only the invoices where the person is an active approver will show up |
SAP Ariba Buying and Invoicing SAP Ariba Invoice Management |
| Minor Enhancements on SAP Ariba API Developer Portal | This feature will enable the Administrator on the SAP Ariba Developer Portal to edit the contact details (i.e. Name & Email ID) for other users (i.e. developers). | SAP Ariba developer portal |
Please contact your Customer Engagement Executive for additional detail. This information reflects the status of SAP Ariba's planning as of March 2018 and the features discussed are subject to change at any time without notice. SAP Ariba assumes no responsibility for errors or omissions and nothing in this web page should be construed to represent any commitment by SAP Ariba to include any specific new features in any version of the SAP Ariba solutions.
