Case Study: Deutsche Telekom AG achieves 50% faster procure-to-pay and improved spend visibility with SAP Ariba

How Does Cloud-Based Sourcing Save Time and Improve Visibility for Companies and Suppliers

Deutsche Telekom AG, Europe’s largest telecommunications provider, runs a shared-services procurement center for about 80 group companies in Germany. The team faced thousands of suppliers outside any electronic sourcing system and relied on inefficient email- and paper-based processes that hurt data quality, visibility, and speed across procure-to-pay.

By implementing Ariba Network along with SAP Ariba Discovery, Sourcing, and Supplier Lifecycle & Performance integrated into its ERP/SAP SRM, Deutsche Telekom automated data transfers, introduced e-documents for POs and invoices, and auto-triggered sourcing events. The rollout cut procure-to-pay processing time by 50%, improved supplier satisfaction and spend visibility, enabled large-scale supplier onboarding, and is on track to reach break-even within three years through legacy-system retirement and efficiency gains.

Deutsche Telekom AG

Henning Icken

Project Manager for SAP Ariba Solution Implementations