Best Practice

App – Advanced
Procurement
Platform 

Syskoplan Reply’s solution for SAP Ariba.

Composable application to extend the functionality of SAP Ariba

APP (Advanced Procurement Platform) is the solution implemented by Syskoplan Reply for SAP within the Cloud Application Extension program. APP extends the operation of the SAP Ariba suite with the availability of specific services and features for the Italian market.

Because of its specific architectural approach, which is common for cloud computing and as it is based on Composable Applications, all the features available consist of micro services. These micro services, combined with each other, provide the flexibility and scalability needed to develop new features to support the Procurement processes integrated today in SAP Ariba.

Complete suite for public and private bodies

APP is a complete suite of features that make it easier to manage upstream and downstream sourcing operations, while also meeting the procedural and regulatory compliance needs of public and private organisations in Italy.

• Regulated and Public sectors. The system complies with the current Italian Procurement Code and may be adapted to meet the needs of foreign public bodies with specific European procurement requirements.

• Private sector. The solution has added additional features to meet the Procure-to-Pay process's specific requirements, allowing users to optimise their user experience during the research and formalisation phase of purchasing needs, as well as enabling integration with infoproviders.

The suite is based on the SAP BTP (SAP PaaS) architecture and has passed the SAP readiness check for SAP products.

The features of the solution

The set of microservices that composes the solution enables a wide range of functionalities, ranging from Supply Logistics & Procurement to Supply Chain services, with the guarantee of digital authentication.

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Collaboration with contractors

and subcontractors

The solution ensures an operational workflow that delegates the verification of legal obligations to the supplier and collects all the documentation pertaining to the agreements and executions of procurement and subcontracting activities in one place.

Publication and

transparency

The solution makes it possible to manage RFx institutional communication in one location, eliminating the need for duplication: Company Website, EU Electronic Call and ANAC (National Anti-Corruption Authority). Users can add to the data already available in SAP Ariba and manage the publication in a secure and transparent manner. The solution also supports comparative analysis by product area and category, as well as managing the rotation of tender commissions and suppliers.

Advanced
catalogue

In addition to the existing component included in SAP Ariba for Catalogue buying, the solution also enables the management of complex catalogues. This is possible due to a workflow made up of various actors, aimed at confirming the technical accuracy of a complex purchase by putting together several parts of the electronic catalogue in a single shopping cart.

Risk
management

Through a number of distinct modules, the solution enables a native integration with all the main infoproviders present on the market, allowing the extraction of numerous KPIs and economic and financial risk indicators for a correct risk assessment. Similarly, it is also possible to analyse the environmental sustainability of the supplier, both in the qualification phase and in the vendor rating phase.

Digital
compliance

The solution is able to integrate Qualified Electronic Signature, Certified Email (PEC) and Public Digital Identity System (SPID) authentication in the procurement process.

The added value of the Advanced Procurement Platform

Compliance with the italian procurement code

The solution, which complies with the Italian Procurement Code, is periodically enhanced with new features and regulatory updates, in particular those concerning Public Companies and the special sector.

Simplification of the procurement landscape

Especially in the regulated industry sector and for large private organisations, the procurement process requires many integrations with third-party providers and regular updates. Thanks to the solution developed, organisations can simplify the end-to-end process and reduce the need for a custom code, thus avoiding high implementation and maintenance costs.

Tracking and visibility

The solution helps to improve the traceability of the end-to-end RFx process significantly, taking into consideration all communications with external systems and stakeholders, including outside SAP Ariba. Moreover, the solution can be integrated with the SAP Analytics Cloud to help improve process visibility and analysis.

Formal communication of invitations to tender

The solution is capable of generating complex tender reports, which combine the business model with tender metadata and automatically produce a final, digitally signed report. This process significantly simplifies internal and external audits, particularly in public or regulated sectors.

Rapid deployment

Once the customer has identified the features of interest, Syskoplan Reply is able to implement the solution in the selected context, whether this involves a single tenant private BTP (Business Technology Platform) environment or a complete SaaS multi-tenant environment.