SAP Ariba Interview Questions and Answers

1.What is the Ariba system?

Ans: SAP Ariba is an American software and information technology services company located in Palo Alto, California. It was acquired by German software maker SAP SE for $4.3 billion in 2012.

2.What is the Ariba business network?

Ans: Ariba is the creator and provider of the Ariba Network, a cloud-based B2B marketplace where buyers and suppliers can find each other and do business within a single, networked platform.

3.What’s Ariba’s pitch?

Ans: Ariba’s view: “Simplified connectivity, dramatic improvements in process efficiency, enhanced visibility and status into key orders, deliveries, invoices, payments and other vital business commerce activities.” Simplicity will be the key word going forward. You’ll hear Ariba (and now SAP) execs extoll the similarities between consumer-driven commerce (i.e. Amazon, eBay) and Ariba’s commerce network.

4.What is SAP Ariba network means to the customers?

Ans:Ever wonder what happens to the rest of the process and communications after the fact of your supply chain system. How the entire process is managed and executed by the organization's, well to answer this we have SAP Ariba system in place.

So SAP Ariba is a next-generation tool which is intelligent enough to support different aspects of the business apart from your regular supply chain management system. Using this system you will be able to see the holistic view of the business which controls the entire supply chain process and also covers the purchase orders etc.

5. Why does a Spot Quote look different than a normal Ariba Discovery response?

Ans:Buyers use Ariba Sourcing to create a Spot Quote event and purchase order in their ERP back-end system. When a seller gets a Spot Quote RFQ from Ariba Discovery, their response goes back to the buyer through Ariba Sourcing, not Ariba Discovery, which is why the user interface looks different than a normal Discovery response.

6. Where does Ariba fit in SAP’s evolving cloud strategy?

Ans: The four areas of the SAP cloud application story are: money, people, customer and suppliers. (Business ByDesign is kind of its own category.) Just as SuccessFactors is the core of the “people” segment, Ariba will constitute the core of the “suppliers” category. In addition, as part of SAP’s enterprise cloud strategy (i.e., applications, platform, infrastructure), Ariba will serve as a new “business network” category, connecting suppliers, customers and partners.

7.If you have to explain SAP Ariba in a single sentence what would that be?

Ans:The best phrase that gives the entire picture of SAP Ariba is:

Making procurement more efficient and less costly

8. Why budgeting is important for any organization and how Ariba procurement solution will help in this scenario?

Ans: Well, a budget is set for any sector for an organization so that their day to day operations or businesses flow flawlessly. So, once the budget is allowed it is made evident that anything that needs to be purchased or procured should fall within the budgets, so the ERP solutions actually help you record this information but it doesn't provide you with an intelligent way to spend less on the right deals. So when the budgets are allocated and all the information is actually provided in an SAP ERP system, the same data should also be incorporated into Ariba procurement solution. So whenever a requisition happens there is one more validation that happens at your SAP Ariba system where the budget check happens one more time. This is more sort of a validation which is done against the budget allowance for that particular sector.

So if your current order is actually exceeding the budget allowance it will automatically let you know that you have actually crossed the allowance and also restricts you to spend.

9. What are the key features for Ariba procurement solution?

Ans: The key features for Ariba Procurement solution are as follows:

• Technology
• Community
• Capabilities

10.What are Ariba’s products?

Ans: Ariba sells separate “business commerce” products for buyers and sellers on the Ariba network. Here’s a sampling:

>Buyers—Spending Visibility, Sourcing, Contract Management, Procure-to-Pay, T&E + Supplier Management

>Sellers—“Discovery Service” (to find new buyers), Contract Management for Sales, Order and Catalog solutions

11.What are the key benefits for Ariba procurement solution?

Ans:The key benefits for Ariba procurement solution are as follows:

• Can unlock the value of an ERP solution with a simple OCI integration
• Can increase the user adoption
• Can increase in spend coverage
• It has a lot to offer when it comes to compliance

12.List out all the features that are available in SAP Ariba solution?

Ans:

Below is the list of features that are available in SAP Ariba system:

• Supply chain collaboration
• Spend analysis
• Procurement
• Spend analysis
• Invoice Management
• Supplier discovery
• Ariba exchange
• Contract management etc

13. What are the benefits of SAP Ariba?

Ans: SAP Ariba provides cloud-based solutions to make it easier for businesses to collaborate and compete. Installation requires no costly hardware or software, and no upgrades are expected on the user’s behalf. Companies can simply access it on a multi-tenant platform through a user-friendly interface, wherever they may be, or whatever browser they are using. It can also be integrated to any existing ERP or back-office system as it extends their functionality, and allows users to share processes and collaborate with trading partners towards a more competitive business commerce.

SAP Ariba offers spend management solutions and expertise that reveals everything about a company’s spending habits and uses that knowledge to help users negotiate better deals. Users are also connected to a diverse network of high-quality suppliers who can lower costs for goods and services while minimizing risks while ensuring compliance. There is also the financial chain management which utilizes new capabilities, intelligence, and global reach to transform liabilities into strategic assets.

With SAP Ariba, users now have a simple, smart, and open way to connect all systems and stakeholders through the powerful global Ariba Network. Being part of this network enables users to reduce costs, mitigate risks, and get products to the market thanks to comprehensive solutions such as the integration of sourcing and product design teams, item cost tracking, contract compliance enhancement, supply availability tracking and assessment, and reduction of excess inventory, among many others.

14. What is Ariba Discovery?

Ans: mAriba Discovery is the premier service for matching business buyers and sellers globally, where US$5 billion in annual business postings meet over one million sellers on the world's largest and most trusted business commerce network.

15.How does the installation happen when it comes to the Ariba procurement solution?

Ans: Well, as it is a cloud-based solution there is no high cost associated with the hardware and the software. Also, there are no upgrade costs associated with the user’s point of view. All it takes is just pay the required price for the tool and then start using the tool with the help of intuitive user interface.

16.What is the mission of SAP Ariba?

Ans: The mission of SAP Aribais to bridge the gap between the buyers and sellers and provide them with a unique platform where the transactions and the business happen smoothly.

17.Can you tell us about Budget checks in Ariba procurement solution?

Ans: The budget check feature is available in Ariba procurement solution, so by default, it is not enabled for all the customers while undergoing a default configuration. Once this feature is enabled then the Ariba procurement software will be able to check the budget check for each and every purchase at the customer site.

18.Explain what are your weaknesses At Ariba?

Ans: Red flags: This is the peanut butter to the previous question’s jelly. Again, everyone should expect it, so it's a bad sign if someone seems totally unprepared, or gives a stock answer like, "I'm a perfectionist." Also, of course, candidates crazy enough to blurt out some horrible personality trait should go in the red flagged pile.

Good answer: Candidates should talk about a real weakness they've been working on improving. For instance, they're not good at public speaking, but they've been taking a course to help them improve. Or maybe they feel that they're easily distracted when working online, but have installed software that helps them stay on task. Answers like these show a desire for improvement, self awareness and discipline.

19.What is SAP Ariba Sourcing?

Ans: SAP Ariba Sourcing is designed to assist companies to overcome difficulties in supplier information management. A unique software-as-a-service (SaaS) solution, SAP Ariba Sourcing is the most widely embraced and entire strategic sourcing present in the marketplace and is used by thousands of companies to create and implement competitive best-value agreements.

20.What Is The Difference Between SAP Ariba, SAP MM, and SAP SRM?

Ans: SAP Ariba is effective in outsourcing quotation similar to our government tender outsourcing and it helps to collect the quoted quotation and process efficiently and based on the quotation selected, ECC MM can create purchase contracts.

SAP MM deals with the whole material management solution which includes procurement and inventory management.

SAP SRM is an enterprise buyer professional software, where it links customers and suppliers directly. The end customer can create carts and the purchase order gets created as a sap ECC backend.

21. What is SAP Ariba Start Sourcing?

Ans: It is an intuitive, web-based RFX management tool that enables you to create, execute, and manage sourcing events right from your desktop.