Deutsche Telekom: Increasing procurement efficiency by improving supplier collaboration with a digitalized business network
Connecting more closely with suppliers
Deutsche Telekom AG sees enterprise-wide digitalization as key to achieving its goal of leading the telecom market. That’s why it deployed SAP Business Network for Procurement and SAP Ariba solutions to automate and digitalize source-to-pay processes—streamlining procurement, improving supplier relationships, and running more sustainable operations.
| Industry | Region | Company Size |
| Telecommunications | Bonn, Germany | 200,000 employees (as of 12/31/24) |
on-time payment rate.
no-touch invoice processing.
savings by focusing on automated business processes.
Process and Quality Manager Supplier and Procurement Digitalization, Deutsche Telekom Services Europe SE (part of Deutsche Telekom AG)
Achieving business growth by connecting people
One of the world’s leading integrated telecommunications companies, Deutsche Telekom AG has a presence in 50 countries. With more than 261 million mobile customers, 25 million fixed-network lines, and 22 million broadband customers, the company operates in both consumer and business markets.
A core part of Deutsche Telekom’s strategy for market leadership is to become a data-informed, AI-enabled, and digital-first company, driving productivity and efficiency through the automation and standardization of end-to-end processes. With procurement a key area of focus, the company’s subsidiary Deutsche Telekom Services Europe SE (DTSE) looked for a solution that would enable the exchange of documents with suppliers in a fully automated way. This would require the standardization of process steps across the source-to-pay cycle. It would also require close collaboration with and buy-in from suppliers.
Providing comprehensive support across end-to-end procurement processes
Deutsche Telekom reviewed solutions from a number of vendors but felt that SAP Business Network for Procurement offered the most comprehensive support for the automation of end-to-end procurement processes. In addition, as an established SAP customer, Deutsche Telekom knew it could rely on SAP software.
The team at DTSE implemented SAP Business Network for Procurement within six months, integrating it with the company’s existing instance of the SAP ERP application. Following an initial pilot involving 10 suppliers, the team then rolled out the network across Deutsche Telekom’s supplier base, turning to SAP Services and Support for guidance as and when required. SAP experts played a key role in the supplier enablement phase of the project, running training workshops and providing access to training videos. Meanwhile, an internal intranet site provided employees with detailed information about the capabilities of the new network.
Deutsche Telekom also automated its tendering processes by implementing the SAP Ariba Sourcing solution and integrating it with the company’s existing SAP Supplier Relationship Management (SAP SRM) application. With tenders initiated in SAP SRM, tender requests are then created in SAP Ariba Sourcing and automatically sent out to suppliers. Incoming quotations are automatically transferred back to SAP SRM for review by the purchasing team. Finally, when the winning bid is selected, SAP Ariba Sourcing automatically generates the order and notifies the supplier by transferring the order to SAP Business Network for Procurement.
In addition, the company deployed the SAP Ariba Contract Invoicing solution. This automates the processing of more-complex service-based invoices by enabling suppliers to create digitalized service entry sheets detailing the services they’ve delivered against a particular PO.
Process and Quality Manager Supplier and Procurement Digitalization, Deutsche Telekom Services Europe SE (part of Deutsche Telekom AG)
Streamlining procurement processes and making life easier for suppliers
With the solutions in place, Deutsche Telekom exchanges digitalized documents with more than 3,500 suppliers at each stage of the purchasing cycle. This enables automation across the source-to-pay process—from creating and issuing RFQs, purchase orders, order confirmations, and shipment notifications to updating service entry sheets and processing invoices.
As a result of this high level of automation, the company has dramatically increased the efficiency of its purchasing operations. Procurement processes have accelerated significantly with a 50% reduction in procure-to-pay processing time, and more-accurate invoice processing leads to fewer payment status inquiries from suppliers. Meanwhile, with suppliers no longer needing to send invoices manually, the amount of paper used has reduced by more than one million pages each year, helping the company meet its sustainability goals.
The change has also been welcomed by suppliers. The use of e-documents and automated processes makes it easier and more efficient to do business. Without time-consuming, paper-based processes, they receive payments faster and can check on invoice status at the touch of a button. And using SAP Business Network for Procurement doesn’t just mean that suppliers can collaborate more closely with Deutsche Telekom—they can also access the full capabilities offered by the network when working with other customers.
Gaining competitive edge by taking advantage of the latest innovations
With regular automated updates to the cloud-based solutions, Deutsche Telekom is well-placed to take advantage of the latest innovations to streamline its source-to-pay operations. In addition, following a planned migration from SAP ERP to SAP S/4HANA Cloud Public Edition, the company will integrate its procurement solutions with the next-generation ERP, accessing advanced AI-based functionality to further drive efficiency and boost productivity.
Meanwhile, streamlined and automated procurement processes result in a faster time to market for items sourced by Deutsche Telekom. This provides the company with a valuable competitive edge, supporting future success by helping it achieve its strategy of market leadership through early adoption of breakthrough technologies.