With SAP Ariba and SAP Fieldglass , you address a company ’ s source-to-pay processes . What exactly is your contribution ? SAP aims to support companies with solutions that streamline working processes and allow employees to concentrate on the important work that not only makes their businesses run better , but improves the world around them . Together , SAP Ariba and SAP Fieldglass , provide a set of cloud-based source-to-pay solutions that companies can use to manage all of their spend – from direct and indirect materials to contingent labor – from end to end in a simple , compliant , contextual and conscious manner . SAP Ariba covers the procurement side of things – so everything from sourcing and orders through invoicing and payment . And SAP Fieldglass helps to manage contingent labor and SOW ( Statement of Work ) -related activities . The key here is that the solutions are fully integrated . Procurement is not a discrete activity that can be performed in silos , but a connected one . And the solutions used to drive it need to be too . With SAP Ariba and SAP Fieldglass , companies can seamlessly connect their procurement systems and the people and processes used to drive them and manage everything through a single interface . And they can gain the transparency and insights needed to make better buying decisions that positively impact their business .

SAP Ariba is unique in the market with regards to its breadth and depth . With more than 3.4 million companies transacting more than $ 2.1 trillion on an annual basis , the Ariba Network is the largest business network on the planet . And when you combine this scale with our cloud-based source-to-settle applications that have been ranked as market leading by the likes of Gartner , Forrester and IDC , and use them alongside things like SAP S / 4HANA , you can very quickly unlock real value .

How do these solutions integrate into a company ’ s IT landscape ? Most Chief Procurement Officers ( CPOs ) are looking for ways to manage goods and services in a more simple , consumer-like way . But the process still has to be compliant and fully integrated . Our approach is to natively integrate SAP Ariba and SAP Fieldglass into SAP S / 4HANA as well as other ERP solutions . With S / 4HANA as their core , companies can master massive amounts of data digitally in real time , enable instant insight and predictive analytics to guide critical decision making and eliminate risk . With the integration of solutions from SAP Ariba and SAP Fieldglass , they can extend this simplicity , power and speed outside their four walls and collaborate with customers , partners and suppliers in new and innovative ways that transform the supply chain . No business is an

Marcell Vollmer - Chief Digital Officer ( SAP Ariba )

island . To make things go in today ’ s global economy , businesses need to work with thousands of suppliers , partners and customers across supply chains that have become increasingly complex . With the integration of S / 4HANA and SAP Ariba and SAP Fieldglass , companies can simplify this process , connecting with all of their partners and managing all of their procurement activities in one place . They can share forecasts and sales to facilitate better planning . They can gain visibility into potential risks and mitigate them before they cause any disruptions .

What are the specific challenges for the energy sector and why do companies such as Uniper choose SAP to tackle them ? Energy companies face challenges unlike most other companies in that every day , millions of people depend on them to power their lives . They must be able to consistently deliver with a high degree of reliability and maintain the integrity of their supply to keep pace with growing demand . They also have to contend with new players entering the market and keep up with the dizzying pace of innovation that all companies face in today ’ s digital economy where things that used to take months can now be done in hours and even minutes . And in many organizations , procurement is leading the charge on all of this . Uniper is a great example of a company that saw the sign of the times and started to drive their digital transformation . Under the visionary leadership of CPO Jan Taschenberger , Uniper is building an exceptional procurement organization with an integrated and highly automated source-to-pay process .

The main challenge with most digitization projects is getting people on board with them . You can have the best solution in the world . But unless your employees use it , it won ’ t deliver any value . And I think Uniper saw out of the gate that with SAP , they could create a consumer-simple , yet enterprise-strong process that would meet their people where they were at and bring them along in the journey at the pace they want to go .