NCEP 2020 Upgrade Information
The NC eProcurement Upgrade went live on July 1!
The existing on-premise Ariba Buyer 9r1 application has been upgraded to the cloud-based SAP Ariba Buying module. The new cloud-based buying module offers a modernized user interface, improved mobile accessibility, and regular updates with new features. In addition, it helps the efficiency of the purchasing processes and improves collaboration with vendors.
As part of the upgrade, the State moved from the NIGP Commodity Code classification system to the UNSPSC Commodity Code classification system.
For more details on these changes, please review the pages that are most relevant to your entity.
Information for State Agencies
Information for Community Colleges, LEAs, and Non-Integrated Entities
What's New in NC eProcurement Training
As part of the NC eProcurement Upgrade, there was a series of "What's New" webinars designed to teach how different roles will use the upgraded system. Those sessions were recorded for users to review at their convenience. In addition, detailed job aids have been published to assist users with new features and functions.
New Features Coming to NCEP
The Guided Buying landing page is the first page displayed after logging into the new NC eProcurement. Guided Buying is a new modern overlay that will save both time and effort. For requesters, Guided Buying will incorporate purchasing policies, contracts, and the most commonly purchased items to help make creating requisitions faster and easier. The same user-friendly setup enables quick access to documents for approvers and reports for purchasing departments.
The new Requisition Summary Page includes more information in a consolidated view. In addition to the line items, cost summary, comments, and attachments, the approval flow is now part of the same page. This update simplified the view, making information easier to find and eliminating the need to click between the current tabs.
A majority of users will use the Guided Buying view for quick and simple requisitions. For some users, more complex actions will be conducted within the Expert View of NC eProcurement. Users can enter Expert View by clicking on the Expert View tile on the Guided Buying dashboard, at which point they will see a more robust dashboard that is similar to the previous version of NC eProcurement.
The Expert View dashboard includes multiple tabs at the top of the page and several tiles that can be moved and customized at the user-level. Tiles can be used to view NC eProcurement news, access recently viewed requisitions, and view pending approvals. Although much of the functionality is the same in Expert View as it is in Guided Buying, there are certain actions that may be performed only when users navigate to the Expert View. Those actions include initiating a Collaborative Requisition (an informal quote), editing your default preferences, and running prepackaged or public reports.
This feature represents the next evolution of informal quoting for non-catalog items. After starting a requisition for non-catalog items, users can collaborate with multiple vendors to request informal quotes and negotiate pricing before placing the order. Suppliers are able to respond and propose fulfilling all items or fulfilling only some items from the collaborative requisition.
Suppliers can also add an additional line item to the requisition when a functional substitution is permitted or when an additional line item is required (e.g., shipping).
After receiving responses from suppliers, users are able to clarify items, prices, and substitutions, or make any other inquiries. The user then selects the best response, which populates the requisition. The requisition will proceed through final approvals to generate a purchase order for the selected supplier.
With the NC eProcurement upgrade to the newest version of SAP Ariba, vendors have an increased role in Contracts, and eventually Sourcing requests. Each vendor has designated one or more contacts as the Sourcing and Contracts user(s) within their electronic Vendor Portal (eVP) profile. That user receives messages and is assigned to respond to tasks as a part of any Sourcing, Contracts, and Quoting events.
To view the Sourcing and Contracts contact for a vendor, find the vendor on Public Vendor Search, click on “View” and open the Sourcing/Contracts tab.
