The evaluation team gave Ariba Buyer the highest marks overall, particularly for its ability to scale well on Windows NT and SQL Server. The Ariba implementation team at Dell spent seven months creating nearly 20 interfaces to connect Ariba Buyer and Dell's legacy systems. The implementation team built links between Ariba and Dell's purchase order, cost center, catalog data, employee data, accounting code validation, and other systems. The goal was to ensure that only fully validated orders were processed and fulfilled. Figure 1 illustrates the Ariba Buyer solution architecture that was implemented.
Searches quickly return accurate status reports.
Within minutes, Ariba Buyer transfers the requisition and catalog items directly to the appropriate cost center manager, who is then able to sign the order electronically. Then, the system automatically builds an approval chain and directs the requisition through a network of employees. If the item is not already in the catalog, Ariba Buyer adds a Dell buyer, who sources the item and submits the requisition for final signatures. In addition to routing requisition orders, Ariba Buyer also facilitates Dell's payment process. When Dell's central receiving department creates receipts for goods shipped to the company, the receipts are automatically matched to the appropriate invoice, which has already been entered into the system by accounts payable processors.