Vendor 360: Supplier Experience & Performance Intelligence
Transform supplier relationships through a modern engagement platform that extends SAP procurement capabilities. Enable self-service collaboration, performance visibility, and compliance management while preserving your SAP MM/AP investment and upgrade path.
Strategic sidecar approach: Side-by-side architecture that addresses supplier experience gaps without modifying SAP configuration. Each implementation is tailored to your procurement workflows, compliance requirements, and organizational structure.
Upgrade-Safe Architecture
Keep SAP stable. Extend capabilities through APIs, events, and governed integrations—no brittle core modifications.
Faster Supplier Cycles
Reduce email chaos with structured onboarding, document collection, dispute workflows, and SLA tracking.
Enterprise Security
SSO, least-privilege access, audit logs, and a read-only-first integration approach.
Example Capabilities We Can Build
Your Vendor 360 implementation will include only the modules that address your specific pain points. Common starting points:
Supplier onboarding & profile
Simple forms, document collection, and status tracking—start with basics, expand to verification workflows as needed.
PO / ASN / GR visibility
Self-serve order status views pulled from SAP—reduce "where is my PO" emails.
Invoice & dispute workflow
Basic dispute intake and evidence upload—can route to AP/procurement or remain lightweight.
Vendor performance view
Simple dashboards showing key metrics (OTIF, lead-time)—complexity scales with your data availability.
Compliance & audit evidence
Document storage and attestation tracking—audit trails can be added as compliance needs grow.
Optional AI assistance
Optional layer for summarizing issues or extracting data—only if it fits your use case.
How It Integrates with SAP
Vendor 360 is designed as a sidecar: the user experience, workflow, and analytics live outside SAP, while SAP remains the system of record. We typically start with simple read-only API connections and expand integration complexity only as needed.
Integration Patterns (Start Simple)
- • Read-only APIs first: Pull vendor data, POs, and invoices via SAP OData/REST APIs—minimal risk, fast to implement.
- • Event-driven (optional): Add real-time updates if your SAP landscape supports it and you need immediate sync.
- • Write-back (as needed): Only add controlled write operations if your workflows require posting data back to SAP.
- • Batch sync (optional): For analytics or dashboards, can add periodic data replication if API calls aren't sufficient.
Connectivity (Works with Your SAP Setup)
- • SAP S/4HANA Cloud: Connect via standard APIs—straightforward and secure.
- • SAP ECC / On-prem: Use existing network patterns (connectors/gateways) to maintain security.
- • BTP-compatible: Can deploy alongside BTP if you prefer SAP-native integration.
Data Model (Keep It Simple)
- • Start with basic vendor fields you need (name, contact, status)—expand schema as requirements grow.
- • Map SAP IDs to portal records with clear boundaries—no need for complex lineage unless you need it.
- • Add audit trails and governance only where compliance requires it.
Reliability (Production-Ready Basics)
- • Handle SAP API rate limits and implement basic retry logic—standard production practices.
- • Add logging and error monitoring—depth scales with your operational needs.
- • Portal can cache data to remain functional if SAP is temporarily unavailable.
Security & Access Control
We implement security appropriate to your environment—starting with basic authentication and expanding to enterprise features as your needs require.
Authentication Options
Start with basic login or use your existing SSO provider. Vendor access and data segmentation can be added as needed—no need to build everything upfront.
Access Control (As Needed)
Simple role-based access gets you started. Add audit logs and approval workflows only if your compliance requirements or workflow complexity demands it.
Delivery Approach
We start small, ship quickly, and expand based on what you actually need—not what a requirements doc promised.
Scoping & access
Confirm which SAP data you need, which APIs are available, and define MVP scope—typically 1-2 core workflows.
Build & ship MVP
Deliver a working portal with your priority features (e.g., PO visibility + basic onboarding)—usually read-only to start.
Production deployment
Deploy with basic monitoring and error handling—add complexity (audit logs, write-backs) only if you need it.
Expand (optional)
Add modules like disputes, performance dashboards, or AI features based on actual usage and feedback.
Related Integration Examples
Ready to discuss a lightweight vendor portal?
We'll scope a custom sidecar app that fits your SAP landscape and vendor needs—starting with a simple MVP that solves your immediate pain points, not a heavyweight platform.