SAP Ariba Snap: Bucking Convention with a Real Middle-Market E-Procurement Package

SAP Ariba is serious about the small and medium-sized business (SMB) market for e-procurement and integrated procure-to-pay (P2P). With its new Snap offering, which takes a packaged approach to out-of-the-box capability and deployment, SAP Ariba is bucking convention. It’s doing so in two ways: first, by bringing to market a solution for which market demand is not yet established like it is in the Global 2000 and the upper mid-market; and second, by scripting, bounding and containing all aspects of deployment and configuration in a 12-week rapid implementation model (which many who know SAP Ariba might find hard to believe). 

The lower end of the middle market, a prime target for Snap, is unproven ground for e-procurement. While Coupa’s original business plan, Spend Matters believes, targeted largely SMB customers, a key pivot for the provider, in our opinion, was its realization that larger middle-market and Global 2000 companies generally represented a better fit for integrated procure-to-pay (although Coupa does still actively target and serve smaller customers, as well). In contrast, dozens of providers have successfully driven AP automation into the SMB market, with rumored IPO candidate AvidXchange arguably the most successful in North America from a growth and customer traction perspective, especially at the smaller end of the market.

This Spend Matters PRO brief provides an introduction to SAP Ariba Snap: what it is, what it consists of, its design and implementation philosophy, pricing, key takeaways, and our recommendations for customers and prospects. A follow-up Spend Matters PRO brief will focus on the strengths and weaknesses of the approach SAP Ariba is taking with Snap in targeting a market segment for e-procurement and procure-to-pay in which greater value within procurement typically comes from prioritizing different business process areas and supporting technologies.