P2P Vendor Analysis (Part 2) Product strengths/weaknesses

Adobe Stock

In this series on SAP Ariba’s procure-to-pay (P2P) offering, Part 2 provides an assessment of the P2P solution’s strengths and weaknesses, based on both quantitative data gathered through our SolutionMap benchmark and our analysts’ informed qualitative analysis. It also offers tech selection tips.

Comparing major procure-to-pay (P2P) vendors is no simple task. While many solutions have strived in recent years to deliver what they describe as “Amazon-like” or even “Google-like” experiences for end users making daily purchases, the underlying technology enabling those experiences is anything but simple. And especially when you shift your reference from indirect, shopping-based experiences to direct materials purchasing and global e-invoicing compliance, the complexity of how to execute efficient yet compliant P2P processes at the enterprise level can quickly become overwhelming.

SAP Ariba is intimately familiar with both of these end-user challenges and these multinational-size P2P puzzles. The vendor has for many years held top-tier functionality scores in our P2P SolutionMap. SAP Ariba is, of course, well-known among procurement organizations, and for firms already using SAP products like ECC or S/4HANA, the option to standardize within the SAP ecosystem can be appealing.

But how exactly does SAP Ariba stack up against competitors offering enterprise-focused P2P solutions, and when exactly is the vendor the ideal “fit” for your business requirements?

This Spend Matters PRO Vendor Analysis series helps procurement organizations and the firms that support them evaluate SAP Ariba as it stands today.

Part 3 of today’s series will provide a detailed overview of each component of the SAP Ariba P2P product and a final analyst summary. Part 1 offers company background information, a SWOT and a list of SAP Ariba competitors.

Future three-part posts will cover the vendor’s source-to-contract (S2C) offering, as well as a summary look at its source-to-pay (S2P) product as a whole.

Now, let’s look at SAP Ariba’s P2P strengths and weaknesses.