How you use Ariba Buyer, and the other Ariba Spend Management applications available to you, depends on your company's setup and configuration, and your assigned groups, roles, and permissions.

You might have access to the dashboard feature, if enabled. The dashboard is a single screen on which you can organize and access key tasks, actions, and information from the Ariba Spend Management applications available to you. Rather than switching between applications to display and access items such as requests, reports, or projects, you can simply add the items to your dashboard and then monitor and access the items from one convenient location, your dashboard. Click Help on your dashboard for more information.

The online help in Ariba Buyer contains information about Ariba Spend Management applications that your company might not have installed.

Ariba Buyer, an integral part of Ariba Spend Management, increases your company's ability to track and control its spending by automating the entire buying cycle, from purchase requisition to payment. Ariba Buyer enables you to efficiently buy goods, approve requests, or direct and coordinate purchasing activities:

If you buy items, you use Ariba Buyer to complete a purchase requisition that describes what you want to buy, and submit it for approval. When your request is fully approved, Ariba Buyer creates the appropriate orders and sends them to suppliers. When you receive the items, you use Ariba Buyer to enter receipt details, so Ariba Buyer can finish tracking the request, order, and receipt. Your purchasing department can be involved at different points in the process, as necessary.

If you approve requests, you use Ariba Buyer to organize, view, and take action on requests. When you approve or deny requests, you can edit the requests, or add comments and attachments to them. You can also add or remove approvers and watchers, to ensure adequate review and approval. Your purchasing department can be involved at different points in the process, as necessary.

If you direct or coordinate purchasing activities, as a purchasing agent, for example, you use Ariba Buyer to monitor and resolve transactions that Ariba Buyer flags as problematic, based on your company's business rules. For example, you might be notified of problems transmitting orders to suppliers, canceling orders, or pushing data to your ERP systems.

Ariba Buyer is set up and configured by your company's Ariba Buyer administrator and implementation team. They customize Ariba Buyer to reflect your company's business and operating rules, so the requisition, approval, order, and other processes you follow in Ariba Buyer conform to your company's standards.

Ariba Spend Management applications complement Ariba Buyer with features that further streamline and simplify the procurement process. To learn more about these applications, visit www.ariba.com.