If you log in as a system administrator, the partition you select determines the objects you can edit in Ariba Buyer Administrator. You can edit objects only in the login partition; you have read-only access to objects in other partitions. You can also access integration events, scheduled tasks, and rules in all partitions. To ensure you have access to all catalog administration tasks, select the Supplier Direct partition.

If you are unsure about which partition to select, see your manager or your Ariba Buyer system administrator.

Click the partition that corresponds to the Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system whose data you need to access. The Home page is then displayed. The current partition is identified on the Home page.

Some actions, such as approving requests or running selected reports, can be done across multiple partitions; for example, you don't need to be logged in to the partition in which a request was created in order to approve it.

If you have the necessary permissions to display the dashboard and dashboard content, you might have access to items (such as requests, reports, or projects) that exist in partitions other than the current partition. If you click a link for one of these items, a message appears confirming that you want to switch partitions. When you switch partitions, information about screens you have recently visited is deleted and clicking a Back button or link will not display those recent screens. To return to the previous partition, redisplay your dashboard and click the link for an item that exists in the previous partition.