Replace SAP SRM with S/4HANA

• In many companies, SRM serves as a central portal for creating requisitions, purchase orders and contracts. These are created in SRM, approved and then distributed to the respective backend system. Information, such as contract release orders, can be monitored centrally in SRM
• You can continue using SRM as a hub for your backend systems, independent of ECC or S/4HANA.
• Do you want to replace SAP SRM, but still operate several SAP backend systems? For this purpose SAP offers the "Central-Procurement-Hub" where an S/4HANA system takes over the hub function of the SRM. The hub function is activated in an S/4HANA system defined by you and all other SAP backend systems are connected.

The following functionalities are available:

• Central Purchasing
• Central Sourcing
• Central Invoicing
• Central Requisitioning
• Central Contract Management

Tenders and auctions have so far been handled almost exclusively via SAP SRM or other third-party systems. You can continue to use these functions in SRM under S/4HANA without any problems. But it is also worthwhile to have a look at the new functionalities in S/4HANA. SAP has given the tender a new look in the new S/4HANA Core. And this does not only refer to the new Fiori design.

• Tenders only have to be created once and can be sent to several suppliers
• In addition, tenders can be placed in an "external portal" and submitted supplier offers can be directly fed back into the tender
  Important: You are not restricted to SAP Ariba here.
• As with many other functions: As soon as you enter supplier collaboration, you should extend the functionality of S/4HANA with a third party system such as SAP Ariba. It also follows that auctions are not part of the S/4HANA core.

The shopping cart functionality and its approval is probably the most used function in SAP SRM. Many companies only use this part of SRM. You can also create a purchase requisition, purchase order or reservation in S/4HANA from shopping carts. To implement shopping cart functionality in S/4HANA, SAP offers several new Fiori Apps for creating purchase requisitions.

• Create purchase requisitions: SAP offers three Fiori Apps in addition to the well-known GUI transaction ME51n, which is still available
  • The Fiori app "Manage Purchase Requisition - Professional" offers the usual scope of free text, material, service material and limit item. All of this in a new Fiori interface
  • If you don't want to miss the transaction ME51n or its full range of functions, you can still use the familiar GUI transaction as a Web GUI
• SAP can also create contracts, invitations to bid, reservations or purchase orders directly from purchase requisitions and assign sources of supply with just one Fiori App: "Manage Purchase Requisitions"
• Orders can be created or edited as web GUI similar to the purchase requisition via a new Fiori app or the usual transaction ME21n.
• The approval of all documents is handled in S/4Hana by the "Flexible Workflow". More information about Flexible Workflow

The advantage of contract management via SAP SRM was clearly the hub function, which you can continue to use in the SRM - S/4HANA scenario without any problems. However, SAP S/4HANA also brings some innovations, especially in contract monitoring via SAP Fiori

• Until now, the SUS Portal supported the business in exchanging tenders, offers or documents such as orders, order confirmations or invoices with suppliers via the portal
• You can continue using SUS in the "SRM-SUS" scenario. Without participation of the S/4HANA backend system
• However, if you use the "MM-SUS" scenario, in which you make purchase orders from SAP ERP available in the SUS portal, you will have to think about a new solution. Support with S/4HANA is no longer considered here
• Since SAP S/4HANA does not provide a solution for supplier collaboration, alternative solutions are required - keyword "SAP Ariba" 

Everything concerning the supplier is the responsibility of the Supplier Lifecycle Management. But just like SRM, SLC will soon reach the end of its life cycle.
SAP has now divided the functionalities of the SLC into two clusters and implemented each in different systems:

• SLC Functionalities, without direct supplier interaction, available
  in the S/4HANA Core 
  • Supplier evaluation
  • Activity management (internal)
  • Master data maintenance (internal)
     
• SLC functionalities, with direct supplier interaction, available in SAP Ariba 
  • Registration of suppliers
  • Supplier qualification (questionnaires)
  • Master data maintenance by the supplier

If you want to continue using SLC with S/4HANA, you must note that SAP always considers an SAP MDG to be mandatory for integration with S/4HANA.