Does Ovenca replace procurement in S/4HANA?

No. S/4HANA remains your ERP and the system of record for purchase orders, contracts and master data. In indirect procurement, Ovenca takes on catalog, purchase requisition, approval and catalog maintenance by suppliers, and hands purchase requisitions and orders over to S/4HANA.

Do we need SAP BTP to integrate Ovenca with S/4HANA?

Ovenca is connected through OCI punchout, cXML and open interfaces (API). Which components in your landscape take part in the integration depends on your architecture and your S/4HANA edition. We clarify this in the technical discussion with your SAP team.

Does Ovenca work with S/4HANA Cloud Public Edition?

The connection uses OCI punchout and interfaces. Which of these your S/4HANA edition provides and how purchase requisitions are handed over is something we check together with your SAP team on the basis of your system landscape.

Can Ovenca be rolled out across several legal entities and plants?

Yes. Legal entities and plants, roles and visibility are managed in the Admin Area. Procurement uses this to control which catalogs are visible to whom. At LANXESS, Ovenca is in use worldwide.

What does a typical rollout look like?

The modules can be introduced individually. One possible path is to start with Catalog Shop and Catalog Management in one legal entity, then extend to further entities and plants and connect suppliers through the Vendor Portal. Sequence and duration depend on your system landscape, the interfaces and the number of catalogs. We therefore do not state flat timelines.

What happens if we switch to Ariba or another vendor later?

Purchase orders, contracts and master data remain in S/4HANA and do not depend on Ovenca. Catalog and supplier data resides in your own Ovenca instance, on-premise or in a private cloud. Questions about handing this data over in the event of a switch are clarified in the technical discussion.

eProcurement for S/4HANA: indirect procurement alongside the ERP

Ovenca adds catalog, purchase requisition, approval and supplier-maintained catalogs to S/4HANA. S/4HANA remains the system of record for purchase orders, contracts and master data.

The connection uses OCI punchout and interfaces. Ovenca runs as a separate instance on-premise or in a private cloud.

Integration and architecture

Contracts and master data: Uses contracts, material numbers and master data from the ERP.
Supplier catalogs: Suppliers maintain catalogs in the Vendor Portal. Procurement validates and approves them in Catalog Management.

Indirect procurement in the S/4HANA landscape

An S/4HANA transformation forces a decision on indirect procurement, especially when SAP SRM is being replaced: standard maintenance for SAP SRM 7.0 ends on 31 December 2027. The questions are where requesters search for items, where approvals run and how suppliers maintain their catalogs. Ovenca takes on these tasks as a separate platform alongside the ERP. Purchase orders, contracts and master data stay in S/4HANA.

Ovenca Catalog Management: punchout configuration of a catalog with OCI protocol, catalog URL and encoding — Catalog Management with demo data: protocol, call URL, parameters and field mapping of a punchout catalog are configured, not coded.

Where Ovenca sits next to S/4HANA

The platform map shows user groups, modules and interfaces. In an SAP landscape, S/4HANA is the connected ERP system: it receives purchase requisitions and orders and supplies contracts, material numbers and master data.

User groups

OvencaOperated on-premise or in a private cloud

Requesters in the business units
Catalog Shop
Search, compare, order. Free-text orders with catalog suggestions.
Procurement
Catalog Management
Import, validate and approve catalogs. Configure SmartForms and punchout catalogs.
Suppliers
Vendor Portal
Maintain catalogs themselves, correct errors after validation, submit for approval.
Administration
Admin Area
Roles and permissions, legal entities and plants, visibility, reporting.

Integration layer

OCI punchout
cXML
API
CSV, Excel and BMEcat import
SSO with SAML 2.0 and OIDC

Purchase requisitions and orders
Contracts, material numbers, master data

ERP systems

SAP (ECC, S/4HANA), Microsoft Dynamics, Oracle, Infor, Sage, DATEV, in-house systems

Purchase requisitions and orders
Contracts, material numbers, master data

Call with user context
Shopping cart via OCI or cXML

External supplier catalogs

Punchout into the supplier's shop

Call with user context
Shopping cart via OCI or cXML

Integration and architecture in detail

Division of tasks between Ovenca and S/4HANA

S/4HANA remains the system of record. Ovenca provides catalog, purchase requisition and approval in front of it, plus catalog maintenance by suppliers.

Division of tasks between Ovenca and S/4HANA by task
Task	Ovenca	S/4HANA
Item search and catalog	Catalog Shop with product search and punchout into suppliers' shops. Free-text orders with catalog suggestions.	Supplies contracts and material numbers for product search.
Purchase requisition	Shopping cart and purchase requisition are created in the Catalog Shop.	Receives the purchase requisition via OCI punchout or interface.
Approval	Multi-level approvals. Routing by category is possible.	Receives the approved requisition.
Purchase order	Hands the order over to the ERP.	System of record for purchase orders.
Contracts and master data	Uses contracts, material numbers and master data from the ERP.	System of record for contracts and master data.
Supplier catalogs	Suppliers maintain catalogs in the Vendor Portal. Procurement validates and approves them in Catalog Management.	Calls catalogs via OCI punchout.

The actual division of tasks and the interfaces are defined on the basis of your system landscape. SAP and S/4HANA are trademarks of SAP SE.

Four building blocks for indirect procurement alongside S/4HANA

Ovenca does not replace your ERP. The software covers the part of indirect procurement that comes before the purchase order in the ERP.

Connection via OCI punchout and interfaces
Ovenca uses the standards common in SAP landscapes. External supplier catalogs are connected by punchout, the ERP through OCI punchout and open interfaces.
- OCI punchout
- cXML
- Open interfaces (API)
- Catalog import via CSV, Excel or BMEcat
SAP data in product search
At LANXESS, SAP contracts and material numbers are available directly in the product search of the Catalog Shop.
- SAP contracts in search
- SAP material numbers in search
- Catalogs with more than 5 million items in total
- Free-text orders with catalog suggestions
Approvals and control before the ERP
Procurement controls which catalogs are visible and who approves what before a requisition reaches the ERP.
- Multi-level approvals
- Approval routing by category possible
- Roles and permissions, visibility by legal entity and plant
- Audit trail
Operation independent of the ERP
Ovenca runs as a separate instance. The operating model follows your security and data protection requirements.
- On-premise in your own data centre
- Private cloud as a separate instance in the EU (Germany)
- Hybrid operation possible
- SSO with SAML 2.0 and OIDC, MFA (TOTP)

What speaks for Ovenca alongside S/4HANA

Six points for the assessment by procurement, the SAP team and architecture.

With LANXESS since 2014 in an SAP landscape: The speciality chemicals group LANXESS (MDAX) has worked with Onveda since 2014 and uses Ovenca worldwide, with SAP contracts and material numbers in product search.
ERP-independent: Ovenca is not an SAP product. Besides SAP, it connects to Microsoft Dynamics, Oracle, Infor, Sage, DATEV and in-house systems.
Operating model by your requirements: On-premise in your own data centre or private cloud as a separate instance in a data centre in the EU (Germany). Hybrid operation is possible.
Modules can be introduced individually: Catalog Shop, Catalog Management, Vendor Portal and Admin Area can be used individually or together.
Individual quotation: There are no fixed editions. A cost framework for your landscape is available on request.
Direct contact with the vendor: Ovenca is a product of Onveda GmbH in Langenfeld, Germany. Your SAP team clarifies architecture questions directly with the vendor.

Frequently asked questions about S/4HANA and Ovenca

Assess Ovenca against your S/4HANA landscape

In the technical discussion we go through your system landscape: S/4HANA edition, existing interfaces, catalogs and approvals. You learn how Ovenca works alongside it and where it does not fit.

eProcurement for S/4HANA: indirect procurement alongside the ERP

Indirect procurement in the S/4HANA landscape

Where Ovenca sits next to S/4HANA

Catalog Shop

Catalog Management

Vendor Portal

Admin Area