How to Onboard Vendors to a B2B Business Network

What is the best way to onboard vendors to a Business Network? (ie. Ariba Network, Coupa Supplier Network, Basware Supplier Portal, etc)?

Before saying anything else, it is important to highlight that supplier enablement (network onboarding) is not a science but an art.  It involves relationships with vendors, is often dependent upon competing business imperatives and involves intentionally enabling the collision of many schools of thought on transactional sales and procurement processes.

These differing schools of thought between vendor and buyer are often hidden away in the depths of your Accounts Payable department who manually deal with exceptions when entering invoices.  Supplier enablement brings these exceptions to the forefront because it involves standardization, harmonization and automation.  Therefore, there is no one right way to go about it.

Here are a few guiding principles I believe should be considered when crafting a business network (ie. Ariba Network, Coupa Supplier Network, etc.) supplier enablement strategy, in order of importance.

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