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Cross-source questions

SAP Ariba and SAP S/4HANA in one question

Ask questions that join SAP Ariba spend, contracts and invoices with SAP S/4HANA purchase orders and suppliers, with lineage for each system.

Book a demoHow cross-source answers work

Short answer

One question can span SAP Ariba and SAP S/4HANA, such as which suppliers have open S/4HANA purchase orders and no active Ariba contract. Nexatron queries each within the asking person’s access, combines the results in an isolated step inside your workspace, and shows each source’s query. SAP Ariba and SAP S/4HANA are both available.

Example joined questions

Questions to ask. Each needs data from both systems; the answer depends on your own data and definitions.

  • Which suppliers have open S/4HANA purchase order items older than 60 days and no active SAP Ariba contract workspace?
  • How does SAP Ariba addressable spend by commodity compare with S/4HANA purchase order value by supplier last quarter?
  • Which suppliers with invoices in Ariba reconciliation exceptions also have S/4HANA purchase order items still open?

Agree how an SAP Ariba supplier maps to an S/4HANA supplier business partner, and which system’s purchase order is the record the question counts.

Check before you trust a joined answer

  • Ariba’s side comes from one shared application; S/4HANA’s side runs as each person’s own SAP business user.
  • The same purchase order can appear in both systems. Decide which side to count so it is not counted twice.
  • Commodity codes in Ariba and product groups in S/4HANA may not line up. Agree the mapping first.

How a cross-source answer works

  1. Each system is queried within the person’s access

    Nexatron sends each part of the question to the system that holds it. A system each person signs in to answers as the person asking, and a shared connection reads the same data for everyone enabled on it.

  2. Results are joined inside your workspace

    Nexatron combines each system’s results in an isolated step inside your tenant when the question is asked. Nothing has to be consolidated into a warehouse first, and there is no pipeline to build.

  3. The queries come back with the answer

    The answer carries the generated query for each system and how many records matched, so a reviewer can check which system supplied which figure and repeat the check later.

  4. Joins follow links found at setup

    Nexatron joins on the links setup found between the systems, and says how many records matched. If no record matches, it says so and marks the figures as uncertain.

  5. Currencies are never added up as they are

    Amounts in different currencies are converted with one system’s own exchange rates where a usable rate source exists, and otherwise shown side by side with the reason.

  6. Longer than a single-source answer

    These answers take longer than single-source ones.

More on how it works and its limits: Cross-source analytics and the guide to cross-source analytics without a warehouse migration.