University of Washington Drives Procure-to-Pay Efficiency with Ariba

Procure-to-pay efficiency is something many organizations strive for. But with the help of Ariba, an SAP company, the University of Washington, one of the world’s preeminent public universities, is achieving it. On October 8, Laurie Hunt, Director Procurement Services IT & System Support, will share the secrets of the institution’s success at the Ariba Commerce Summit in San Mateo, California. Part of a 14-city global tour, the exclusive event will be held at the San Mateo Marriott.

“Like many organizations, we struggled to gain visibility into and control over our spend,” Hunt said.

To remedy the situation, UW began looking for a technology partner that could help it fuel a comprehensive procure-to-pay process and deliver solutions in a hybrid manner so that it could maximize its existing systems and extend the value they deliver. It found one in Ariba.

UW started by implementing on-premise versions of Ariba’s procurement and expense solutions, which it used alongside homegrown systems to:

• Create a standard, best-practice procure-to-pay process that would provide a clear view into spend and improve controls and compliance
• Enable suppliers to collaborate electronically on everything from orders and invoices to payments.

Then the university added Ariba’s solutions for invoice management to reduce the cost of reconciling invoices and payments, which Hunt estimates was around $100 per invoice. In doing so, it lowered this number to less than $20 and raised accuracy rates to 80 percent.

Hunt attributes this in part to the consumer-like experience Ariba creates for both internal buyers and external suppliers – which UW enabled by adopting the company’s cloud-based applications for sourcing and contract management. “This has really helped to get everyone on board and using the new system,” she said.

Hunt joins an all-star roster of companies set to attend and present at the Ariba Commerce Summits, a unique global series of free, one-day events designed to provide executives and practitioners across procurement, finance, AP/ treasury, legal, IT and sales and marketing with the intelligence and insights needed to manage their commerce activities with greater simplicity and efficiency. Registration for these can’t-miss forums is open today. To reserve your place, visit: http://www.ariba.com/lp/2015-ariba-commerce-summits

About The University of Washington

The University of Washington is one of the world’s preeminent public universities. Our impact on individuals, on our region, and on the world is profound — whether we are launching young people into a boundless future or confronting the grand challenges of our time through undaunted research and scholarship. Ranked number 10 in the world in Shanghai Jiao Tong University rankings and educating more than 54,000 students annually, our students and faculty work together to turn ideas into impact and in the process transform lives and our world. For more about us, visit: www.washington.edu

Ariba, an SAP Company

Ariba is the world’s business commerce network. Ariba combines industry-leading cloud-based applications with the world's largest Internet-based trading community to help companies discover and collaborate with a global network of partners. Using the Ariba^® Network, businesses of all sizes can connect to their trading partners anywhere, at any time from any application or device to buy, sell and manage their cash more efficiently and effectively than ever before. Companies around the world use the Ariba Network to simplify inter-enterprise commerce and enhance the results that they deliver. Join them at: www.ariba.com

About SAP

As market leader in enterprise application software, SAP (NYSE: SAP) helps companies of all sizes and industries run better. From back office to boardroom, warehouse to storefront, desktop to mobile device – SAP empowers people and organizations to work together more efficiently and use business insight more effectively to stay ahead of the competition. SAP applications and services enable more than 293,500 customers to operate profitably, adapt continuously, and grow sustainably. For more information, visit www.sap.com.

Any statements contained in this document that are not historical facts are forward-looking statements as defined in the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Words such as “anticipate,” “believe,” “estimate,” “expect,” “forecast,” “intend,” “may,” “plan,” “project,” “predict,” “should” and “will” and similar expressions as they relate to SAP are intended to identify such forward-looking statements. SAP undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements. All forward-looking statements are subject to various risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from expectations. The factors that could affect SAP's future financial results are discussed more fully in SAP's filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC"), including SAP's most recent Annual Report on Form 20-F filed with the SEC. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of their dates.

© 2015 SAP SE. All rights reserved.

SAP and other SAP products and services mentioned herein as well as their respective logos are trademarks or registered trademarks of SAP SE in Germany and other countries. Please see http://www.sap.com/corporate-en/legal/copyright/index.epx#trademark for additional trademark information and notices.

View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20150922005072/en/