SAP Ariba & SAP Fieldglass to Integrate in move to push Intelligent Spend
2018 was a strong year for SAP Ariba globally, as the Procurement Solution of choice for many large enterprises finished the year atop of Gartners’ 2018 Magic Quadrant for Procure-to-Pay Suites.
Sudhir Bhojwani, Chief Product Officer (CPO) for SAP Ariba, has previously stated moving through 2019 that “Procurement today is a connected, global activity. And the solutions used to drive it need to be too”. This is a notion that SAP Ariba have grabbed by the scruff of the neck and looked firmly to build upon as we become a society that increasingly communicates through globally connected networks.
Currently SAP Ariba boasts the World’s largest B2B marketplace where over $2.3 Trillion in commerce occurred last year, and is predicted to exceed $3 Trillion this year according to Tifenn Dano Kwan (SAP Ariba Chief Marketing Officer). To put that into perspective… take the annual figures for eBay, Amazon and Alibaba, combine them together, now treble that number; it still does not meet SAP Ariba's figures!
For SAP Ariba, the value of remaining atop the Procurement Solution Tree is as critical as ever, especially given the chasing pack of alternatives (with Coupa widely considered the nearest contender).
So in order for SAP Ariba to continue to evolve solutions and offerings that drive connectivity between businesses for procurement and supply chain the company is seizing multiple opportunities to realise new solutions that further push the borders of what we can achieve in the cloud and with disruptive technologies. One particular announcement from Austin (Texas, USA) this week at SAP Ariba’s Live Conference centred on the integration of two neighbouring SAP solutions. Lets’ take a closer look:
SAP Ariba & SAP Fieldglass Integration
This week at SAP Ariba Live, it was announced that SAP Ariba and SAP Fieldglass will no longer operate as separate entities, rather, SAP is pushing intelligent spend with its integration of the two companies. The message was delivered by Barry Padgett (SAP Ariba and Fieldglass - President) in his keynote speech to those in attendance where he outlined how a combined focus would help companies to utilise the SAP Cloud Platform and Machine Learning to provide business solutions (as opposed to use of isolated specific technologies). This is powered by Intelligent Spend.
With 3.8 million sellers currently on the SAP Ariba Network there is a significant business opportunity to be explored for Intelligent Spend in making smarter and more efficient (“intelligent”) decisions via a data driven approach (“to spend”). Better data allows us to make better decisions and so it makes sense for Ariba and Fieldglass to unify their focus together in pursuit of helping companies attain the knowledge that helps them best manage their spend.
Essentially, to make better decisions we need more knowledge. We get greater knowledge by obtaining more data (hence SAPs prior acquisition of Qualtrics – world leading experience management platform). “Sprinkle in a little knowledge and we become more intelligent” as Barry Padget puts it.
MORE DATA = MORE KNOWLEDGE = BETTER DECISIONS
Arun Srinivasan (SVP Strategy & Customer Operations at SAP Fieldglass) discussed with Tifenn Dano Kwan the power of disruption this move will make and shared some interesting insights into the external workforce management and the forces reshaping how the enterprise gets work done.
Arun explained how SAP Ariba and Fieldglass presented a great opportunity for the two entities to come together and disrupt, and create the right set of conditions to holistically manage service of spend. “Between Fieldglass and Ariba we have an opportunity to better connect the solutions in order to provide a great end to end experience.” Namely dramitic improvement for end users, driving adoption, providing better spend visibility and including service of spend into the bigger picture.
“we are truly, truly better together” – Tifenn Dano Kwan (SAP Ariba CMO) on the integration of SAP Ariba and SAP Fieldglass for Intelligent Spend
SAP Ariba Live – Barcelona – June 4th to 6th 2019
If you are attending SAP Ariba Live in sunny Barcelona this June then I may well see you there. Drop me a call or message if you’d like to meet up over a coffee.
bluewaveSELECT are SAP experts and have a deep rooted interest in innovative technologies that will allow the world to operate more ethically and #MakeProcurementAwesome and #ProcureWithPurpose. We are experts in SAP related digital procurement across SAP Ariba, integration with s/4 HANA, IoT and Cloud technology.
If you (i) are looking for experts in these disciplines, or (ii) are a consultant seeking your next exciting project then please do not hesitate to get in touch.
Tyler Watts (SAP Ariba Specialist at bluewaveSELECT)
+44 (0) 1423 559 559 / +44 (0) 7738 566 539 / [email protected]
