Update to my earlier post:
In 2013, ASUG launched a cloud integration Influence Council which spanned several integration topics between SAP Business Suite (with a focus though on SAP ERP) and SAP's recently acquired cloud solutions. While the initial focus targeted cross-cloud solutions, this year the councils narrowed their focus further and formed separate groups - one very important one focuses on integration with Ariba.
At this year's 2015 ASUG Annual Conference in Orlando, we had a chance to meet with SAP customers and partners in two scheduled influence activities and in one-on-one sessions on the show floor to get the 'customer voice' into SAP's development of more simplified and streamlined integration capabilities between SAP Business Suite integration with Ariba.
Thank you for all who were able to join us onsite!
Special thanks to our ASUG (America's SAP User Group) Influence Council Chair Person, nickdecenzo,and our ASUG Influence program managers, SAP Product Managers for Ariba integration, and the SAP Customer Engagement Initiative teammarco.dornto provide a great venue to do that - at the conference and beyond.
Going forward we're looking forward to an ongoing collaboration that you can join too - either via the ASUG Influence Council for Ariba Integration, or if you're outside of North America, look for our upcoming SAP Customer Engagement Initiative project, "Simplify the Integration of Ariba, Fieldglass and SAP Business Suite with New RDS Preconfigured Scenarios".
What did we learn so far?
- Many SAP customers still need more information about the different cloud solutions from Ariba (Yes! There is more than one Ariba solution!) and how they compare or overlap with capabilities in their on-premise SAP solutions. These different Ariba cloud apps support different procurement use cases and capabilities which provide lots of flexibility to extend existing on-premise capabilities in different ways where it makes sense.
- Many existing SAP customers would like help comparing which Ariba capabilities can extend their already implemented SAP on-premise capabilities (e.g. SAP ERP, SAP SRM, and SAP Supply Chain or any combination thereof), and if they should consider migrating off of any of their on-premise solutions. The good news is that their investments in their SAP solutions are secure, and SAP continues to invest in and support the SAP on-premise solutions, providing better integration between SAP ERP, SRM and Ariba in the use cases where it makes sense.
As a result, the ASUG group for SRM will discuss with several other ASUG groups (procurement, Accounts Payable and Supply Chain) to offer webcasts which will help better define potential integration use cases - Additional integration requirements were identified between the SAP on-premise solutions and the Ariba solutions, many of which are already on SAP's development roadmap where customer insight and prioritization is already well underway and the council will support.
Want to join the discussion?
If you're interested in participating in the ASUG Influence Council for Ariba Integration with SAP (ASUG members only), or in the SAP Customer Engagement Initiative project, Simplify Ariba Integration with new packaged Best Practice scenarios, let us know. Participants need to have a current "Feedback Agreement" (FBA) with SAP in place, and be able to participate in periodic one-on-one and group conference calls.
We'll keep you posted on our progress!
Note - From my original post, sessions scheduled at SAPPHIRE and ASUG Annual Conference in Orlando included the following:
1. Preconference Deep Dive: Ariba & SAP Integration 101:
Arriving on Sunday or Monday? During the all-day "Ariba & SAP Business Suite Integration 101" ASUG Pre-conference session, attendees will participate in a full-day deep dive workshop covering Ariba & Business Suite integration. Hear options, best practices, and the roadmap for Ariba Integration with SAP Business Suite and gain a deep dive into the integration options to simplify the integration including options for SAP HANA Cloud Integration, Ariba Integration Tool Kit, Direct Connectivity, and SAP NetWeaver PI, and what packaged SAP Best Practices are available in SAP Rapid Deployment Solutions. We'll have several "bring-your-own-PC" hands on exercises using offline simulations you can take home with you, and download project tools to help you get started.
During the lunch break, we'll host Influence Lunch Table discussions with workshop participants, hosted by our ASUG Influence Customer Chair, Nick DeCenzo, and SAP Product & Package Owners including , Lisa Sammer, Cathal O'Sullivan, and Kirsten Loegering.
2. ASUG SAP Ariba Influence session in the ASUG Hub on Wednesday, May 6th at 4:15PM
Join Ariba Integration ASUG Influence Council Customer Chair, Nick DeCenzo and several Ariba/SAP Product Managers regarding future development plans and ASUG member needs regarding Ariba integration with SAP Business Suite.
Last year the ASUG Cloud Integration Influence Council was run as one council with a bigger cross-cloud solution and technical focus, but has since been split into separate influence councils focused on specific cloud solutions. In several cases in the past we collaborated with the existing SRM focus/influence group as well where possible, and will continue to do so. During this session we'll have several SAP Product Management teams represented to hear your ideas and requirements, and to share their areas of development where SAP is actively seeking ASUG input via integration between ASUG Influence Councils and SAP CEI projects. Join us to learn more!
