What I like best about SAP Business Network is how it helped us centralize and streamline collaboration with external vendors, partners, and operational stakeholders in a much more structured way. Before using the platform, a lot of procurement coordination, vendor communication, document exchange, and operational tracking depended on emails, spreadsheets, and disconnected workflows, which became difficult to manage as our fintech and healthtech-related operations expanded.

One practical use case for us was managing vendor coordination and service-related workflows across multiple operational projects simultaneously. We had procurement teams, operations teams, external service providers, and compliance stakeholders all working across interconnected processes, and maintaining visibility into approvals, purchase-related communication, delivery tracking, and document handling was becoming increasingly time-consuming.

What stood out immediately was the improved transparency across workflows. Instead of constantly following up manually through emails or calls, teams could track transaction status, approvals, vendor responses, and operational updates within a centralized environment. That reduced communication delays and improved coordination significantly.

We also appreciated the automation and workflow standardization capabilities. Repetitive procurement and operational processes became more structured, which helped reduce manual administrative overhead and minimized the risk of missing important approvals or vendor-related updates.

Another thing I personally found valuable was the integration within the broader SAP ecosystem. Since procurement, finance, operations, and reporting workflows were already interconnected, having vendor collaboration integrated into the same operational environment improved process consistency and reduced fragmented communication. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

One thing we found challenging with SAP Business Network was the complexity involved in onboarding and aligning external vendors and partners into the workflow, especially when different stakeholders had varying levels of technical familiarity and operational maturity. In our case, we were coordinating across multiple fintech and healthtech-related operational projects involving vendors, service providers, compliance teams, and procurement stakeholders, so achieving consistent adoption across all parties took more effort than expected.

For example, some external partners adapted quickly to the platform, while others still relied heavily on email-based communication and manual document sharing. As a result, during the early stages of implementation, our internal teams often had to manage both structured SAP workflows and parallel manual coordination processes simultaneously.

We also felt that the user interface and navigation experience could be more intuitive for occasional or non-technical users. Internal procurement and operations teams eventually became comfortable with the workflows, but onboarding vendors and external stakeholders sometimes required additional support and training. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

The major benefit would be having a single channel where all supplier transactions occur. Previously, our transaction documents were sent through emails, which sometimes resulted in missing documents and versioning issues. Currently, all transactions can be accessed in one location.

The real-time tracking of the order will eliminate the need to ask about the status of orders. Once a supplier confirms that he received the purchase order or sent out an invoice, the transaction is updated in real time.

Through electronic invoicing, payments are now faster since the system automatically validates the document before submission. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Getting suppliers to use our platform is not easy. Some of the small suppliers we have found it difficult to use the platform initially and were reluctant to join.

The design of the platform looks old-fashioned. For regular users of the platform, there is no problem, but for those who are new to it, it is challenging to navigate.

The process of integrating with our ERP system is not easy. It needs technical know-how. When an error occurs in the integration process, it becomes difficult to interpret the message.

The pricing of the platform is high. For small suppliers, the price is not worth the value they derive from it. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

This was my first time using SAP, and initially I had zero knowledge of the system. However, after learning and understanding how it works, I found SAP to be very convenient and efficient.

For example, when searching for specific GL accounts, I can easily filter by the required month. In addition, instead of manually uploading journal vouchers, we use macro files that are linked directly to SAP. This has improved efficiency by approximately 90% in completing my daily tasks Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

If I need to pull reports from the past five years, it does take some time, and occasionally my laptop may freeze. However, I understand that this is due to the large volume of data being processed. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

As someone who works in Retail Operations I appreciate the platform's ability to bring suppliers, buyers and partners in one space making tracking and follow up easier to do. The level of transparency is also worth noting as it helps with reporting. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

The onboarding of new users is a bit overwhelming as it can be a lot to take in especially for team members who are not as technical. If the training documents could be simplified that would definitely help making the adoption easier. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

I find the purchase order and invoice tracking visibility in SAP Business Network to be the most practically useful part for us. Having a clear view of what is outstanding, what has been confirmed, and what is pending on the supplier side greatly reduced the operational overhead of managing those workflows compared to our previous methods. The supplier communication piece is also reasonably useful once suppliers are on the platform. Having interactions and document exchanges in one traceable place makes auditing and following up on open items more straightforward. It reduces the uncertainty that used to exist around where things stood. This visibility means questions about order confirmation or delivery expectations can be answered without involving multiple people each time. The invoice tracking helps with managing cash flow visibility on the operational side, allowing finance and ops to have more accurate conversations around spend without waiting for manual reconciliation. While it's not a dramatic change, the reduction in administrative chasing is genuinely noticeable after having done it the old way for so long. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Supplier adoption is the most persistent frustration. The platform only delivers its full value when suppliers are actively using it and getting smaller vendors in particular to engage consistently has been harder than expected. Some suppliers push back on the onboarding process and you end up managing a hybrid situation where some interactions are in the platform and others are still happening over email, which partially defeats the purpose. The interface and navigation is also more complex than it needs to be for routine tasks. Finding specific orders or filtering transaction history in a way that surfaces what you actually need requires more clicks and familiarity with the platform structure than should be necessary. For team members who are not in it regularly the friction is noticeable and contributes to the adoption challenges on our own side as much as the supplier side. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

I like the flexibility of SAP Business Network because it allows us to use it in multiple areas of the business. Previously, we had to manage each area like inventory or customer management with different programs, which left departments isolated. With SAP Business Network, we can cross-train employees to perform more than just their essential functions, helping them find information and answer questions independently. We switched to SAP because of its more modern UI, which is easier to use and allows for more flexibility since we only need one program instead of several. The modern UI was the main selling point for us, and all the other features have kept us using SAP Business Network for years. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

When we've had issues it's been hard to contact SAP in order to get them resolved, and I'd like to see more training materials to get the basics learned quicker without having to delegate our staff to write instructions for the basic functions. Training materials would be nice for the core functions of SAP in each sector, so core ERP functions. As for the contacting SAP, it's been hard to get quick replies via email and phones are always the quickest way to get things accomplished especially in a noisy environment like out in our warehouse where we still have people trying to use SAP. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

I love that SAP Business Network puts an end to the email tag game for compliance documents. It has been a lifesaver for keeping our certifications in check. Now I can verify suppliers' compliance and check their certificates of analysis before the truck even hits our dock. Having those documents in the portal beforehand means I can green light a shipment before it even pulls into the yard, which makes the entire process efficient without compromising safety. It solves the lack of visibility by putting all our certifications and logistics tracking in one shared place, saving me a ton of time and making our food safety audits way less stressful. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

The onboarding of smaller vendors is definitely too clunky. I often have to play tech support just to help them upload a simple doc. Also, the mobile site is a pain to use, especially when I am out of dock and need to pull up the certificate quickly. Right now there are too many menus to click through just to find a PDF. It should have a simplified dashboard where I can quickly scan the shipment barcode or search with the carrier name, and I could easily fetch their data and certifications. Also, offline caching would be really helpful if possible. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

I use SAP Business Network for the entire supply chain, and it streamlines procurement procedures, which is really helpful. Automation makes everything smooth, especially with finding suppliers, reducing risks, and improving sourcing. The visibility on the dashboard is great for automating the process and getting a diversified supplier portfolio, ensuring smooth transactions and timely delivery of goods. Being digitized helps build trust between companies. I also found the initial setup easy because of my certifications, which led to an excellent first-time user experience. I’d definitely recommend SAP Business Network to a friend or colleague, rating it a 10. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

The real-time integration speed could be improved because latency issues occur when sharing data across third-party ERP systems that aren't native to SAP. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

I find SAP Business Network valuable for our company as it provides real-time visibility into all sales orders, inventory levels, and customer interactions, ensuring our CRM software is updated with accurate reports and analytics. It significantly automates processes, saving time and reducing quality issues, while maintaining clear understanding and transparency between our employees and trading partners. Additionally, it aids in making faster decisions and helps reduce stockouts, which is crucial for our operations involving around 20,000 customers daily. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

I would say it’s the complexity of using it because not everyone is from a technically defined background and it gets difficult to understand the usage of the SAP Business Network software without proper guidance and in this stage mistakes tend to happen quite a lot. I would say that the enhancements on user interface is required and also a customizable dashboard would help each company based on their requirements. It was a little complex at first in terms of setup in some of our older systems of Acer and we had to get some system upgrades done that costed the company. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

I like having one connected platform where customer carriers and internal teams are all working from the same data in SAP Business Network, which eliminates the problem of having outdated versions that can plague logistics operations. Also, I find it valuable for ensuring customer satisfaction by giving customers self-serve visibility into their shipments, which reduces inbound calls and builds trust for long-term commitment. The ability of SAP Business Network to automate communication with trading partners and reduce freight and invoicing complexities is a major asset. It keeps the team working under the same data at the same time, preventing errors and re-keying information across systems, and helps in making faster decisions during disruptions. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

So the one important thing that I have noticed was getting all of the carriers and trading partners onto the network can sometimes be time-consuming and rigid. Smaller carriers or suppliers may also struggle with the technical set up, and the use of interface could be challenging in terms of licensing and heavy reliance on IT support for customizations and fixes. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.