How SAP Business Network Drives Value for Buyers and Suppliers

For millions of trading partners, SAP Business Network unlocks growth by serving as the connection between buyers looking for new sources of supply and suppliers looking for new business.

In the latest installment of Cloud Wars’ ongoing analysis of SAP Business Network, Founder Bob Evans spoke with Tony Harris, senior vice president and head of marketing & solutions for SAP Business Network, to discuss opportunities, benefits, and impact for companies using the network.

SAP Business Network manages over $6 trillion in annual spend while serving as a hub connecting trading partners in scalable ways. “The network really closes or removes the break points for both buyers and suppliers across various kinds of collaborative processes,” Harris explains.

“For the buyer, that means gaining more visibility into business processes and transactions so they can respond more quickly to changes in circumstances, operate more efficiently, and comply with internal and external policies and regulations,” Harris says.

“We also have millions of global supplier customers, and the network really helps them achieve similar goals like streamlining their business processes, increasing visibility, and also growing their business.”

Building Connections, Boosting Business

While buyers on SAP Business Network benefit from the discovery of new suppliers to meet specific business needs such as strengthening their supply chains, suppliers have a wide range of opportunities as well.

“[They] can create their network account, build a profile highlighting their products and services, participate in SAP buyer sourcing events such as Requests for Proposals (RFPs) and reverse auctions, and respond to Requests for Information (RFIs) that buyers post on the SAP Business Network Discovery solution, our intelligent matchmaking platform,” Harris says. Suppliers can join the network for free.

Last year alone, $100 billion in opportunities were posted for suppliers to respond to on SAP Business Network’s Discovery solution.

Evans asked Harris to describe how SAP Business Network impacts customer experiences, and those improved experiences extend to buyers and suppliers.

“Both audiences see improvements to their business efficiency through increased order visibility and direct communication channels,” Harris said. “The network also provides tools for direct system-to-system integration to really accelerate operations even further.”

Harris outlined specific functions and outcomes for SAP Business Network users:

Suppliers can publish their catalogs to increase discoverability and provide streamlined buying experiences
Customers can reduce maverick buying through catalog-based purchasing
Suppliers’ customers get the right products at the right place, right price, and right time while errors and delays are reduced
Investment in low-value work — such as responding to order-status inquiries can be reduced in favor of focusing people on higher-value functions

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Driving Value Across Company Sizes, Industries

The benefits of SAP Business Network are available to businesses of all sizes, from global enterprises to boutique firms. “We have the biggest companies in the world as suppliers on the network, but we also have millions of SME-sized organizations as well,” Harris explains, adding that the company is actively working to make it easier for smaller firms to participate.

With its new “Promote” subscription plan scheduled to launch in early 2025, smaller suppliers gain the same opportunities that larger suppliers have: namely, to be discovered by a wide range of buyers on the network.

“Smaller suppliers don’t always have a way to showcase their catalogs of products or services in the same way that maybe a large company or a large supplier would have,” Harris explains. “This new set of capabilities we’re providing will not only provide a platform for their catalogs, but it also gives them new tools like GenAI to help draft product summaries and descriptions so that their catalog items can really stand out.”

Competitive Edge(s)

In total, SAP Business Network’s supplier community spans 192 countries, covering all industries, and providing goods and services in every category. Its reach and functionality are key differentiators.

“Where SAP Business Network stands out is in the breadth and depth of the capabilities that we offer [and] in the size of our network,” says Harris, who notes that it supports indirect procurement, direct materials procurement, supply chain, logistics, asset management, contingent workforce, and working capital management functions. “Honestly, I don’t think there’s any other software company in this market that comes close to addressing such a broad scope of processing capabilities.”

Because of that breadth, Harris encourages businesses that aren’t among the millions already on the network to start making the most of this resource. “You’re missing out on those cost savings. You’re missing out on improving efficiency throughout your business and with your trading partners. You’re missing out on better visibility throughout your supply chain.”

By digitizing a wide range of collaboration points between buyers and suppliers, SAP Business Network is enabling customers to drive business transformation in the AI era. The dawn of 2025 is an optimal time to capitalize on these benefits.