New Contract Management System (CMS)

The City of Calgary (The City) is pleased to announce a new initiative to modernize its Source-to-Contract process through the implementation of SAP Ariba. The move to SAP Ariba will evolve the way The City and Suppliers interact, making it easier to do business while ensuring effective and accountable procurement practices are followed.

The new Contract Management System (CMS) using SAP Ariba will replace The City’s current electronic bidding system, MERX, and will be free for suppliers to access and respond to City procurement opportunities.

As of June 27, 2022, The City issues all new procurements through SAP Ariba and, in response, Suppliers will be required to electronically submit their bids through SAP Ariba. Any existing procurement opportunities that were advertised before this date will continue to be completed in The City’s current e-bidding environment, MERX.

Suppliers are required  to have an account on the SAP Business Network / Ariba Discovery to bid on City opportunities. Creating an account is at no cost to the Supplier. Notices will continue to be posted on Alberta Purchasing Connection (APC) with a link to Ariba Discovery.

We appreciate both your compliance and support through these changes, and we look forward to realizing the shared benefits of leveraging SAP Ariba.

CMS Training for Suppliers

A variety of training resources are available below:

Other SAP resources

2024 Supplier Symposium

The City hosted a Supplier Symposium in April 2024. The event connected us with suppliers and industry networks. We shared insights to The City's procurement vision and processes. 

SAP Ariba CMS system presentation by Phil Lawrence:

Frequently asked questions

Can you confirm if the new SAP Ariba bidding environment will still issue opportunity notification emails to bidders who have been prequalified for the work categories?

Yes, the SAP Ariba bidding environment will issue emails to prequalified suppliers notifying them when a new opportunity is available or if you are invited to participate for the respective prequalified category. You will be able to access and respond to the opportunity through the SAP Business Network.   

Will Suppliers receive invitation emails directly from Ariba like we currently receive from Merx for categories we are pre-qualified in or do we need to keep watching Ariba/APC for these?

Like MERX, prequalified suppliers will receive a system generated email from SAP Ariba when a new procurement opportunity has become available. Where a procurement is issued to the open market, you will need to monitor APC/ Ariba discovery. You will, however, have the ability to select what categories you would like to monitor in SAP Ariba to help keep you informed when a procurement is issued to the open market. 

Will Suppliers receive invitation emails directly from Ariba like we currently receive from Merx for categories we are pre-qualified in or do we need to keep watching Ariba/APC for these?

Yes, you will need to link your Ariba account(s) to The City of Calgary's subscription in Ariba to view and respond to bids. To accomplish this, we will be sending you an email soon to register as a Supplier within The City of Calgary's SAP Business Network instance.  

Can we have multiple accounts, or will it be open to the public?

Ideally, you would have a single/primary account. If you are a prequalified Supplier, you will receive notification of new procurement opportunities directly. If a procurement falls outside of prequalified categories, it will be issued to the Open Market through Ariba Discovery.  

undefined/null,undefined/null,undefined/null,undefined/null,undefined/null,undefined/null,undefined/null,undefined/null,undefined/null,undefined/null,undefined/null,undefined/null,undefined/null,undefined/null,undefined/null,undefined/null,undefined/null,undefined/null,undefined/null,undefined/null,undefined/null,undefined/null,undefined/null,undefined/null,undefined/null,undefined/null,undefined/null,undefined/null,undefined/null,undefined/null,undefined/null,undefined/null,undefined/null,undefined/null,undefined/null,undefined/null,undefined/null,undefined/null,undefined/null,undefined/null,undefined/null,undefined/null,undefined/null,undefined/null,undefined/null,undefined/null,undefined/null,undefined/null,undefined/null,undefined/null,undefined/null,undefined/null,undefined/null,undefined/null,undefined/null,undefined/null,undefined/null,undefined/null,undefined/null,undefined/null,undefined/null,undefined/null,undefined/null,undefined/null,undefined/null,undefined/null,undefined/null,undefined/null,undefined/null,undefined/null,undefined/null,undefined/null,undefined/null,undefined/null,undefined/null,undefined/null,undefined/null,undefined/null,undefined/null,undefined/null,undefined/null,undefined/null,undefined/null,undefined/null,undefined/null,undefined/null,undefined/null,undefined/null,undefined/null,undefined/null,undefined/null,undefined/null,undefined/null,undefined/null,undefined/null,undefined/null,undefined/null,undefined/null,undefined/null,undefined/null,undefined/null