At the end of Part 2, we noted that the major problems Procurement folk are having that are causing many to proclaim that Procurement is too complex have been solved for over a decade (and, in fact, there are old grey beards that successfully solved them two decades ago with the right systems, integrations, configurations, and customizations when first generation systems were a lot less capable than today’s third generation systems).

We told you that there were quite a few third-generation true SaaS e-Procurement systems built from the ground up since the 2010s that provide an organization with

• full visibility and organization wide access
• full core Procurement process support
• usability by the average Procurement Pro (and not just tech wizards)
  

And all you had to do was find one. (There are over 666 Solution Providers out there, many of which have been reasonably well covered here on SI in the Vendor Post Index and Archives.)

To help you with that, you can search the archives for hundreds of posts on what you

• should look for in a solution of a given type (or start with the 39 steps … errr clues … errr part series on Source-to-Pay+)
• should include in an RFP (if you don’t want RFP Hell) for best practice technology vendor selection for true multi-nationals
• should NOT include in an RFP (Part 1 and Part 2)
• should look for when looking for outside help and who can help you with an Affordable RFP and never a NOT Free RFP
  

But, since the marketing madmen and consulting con-men are playing up the complexity and playing on your fears, hear are a few tips on how to get started on identifying the right solutions from the right vendors for your RFP:

• start with mapping the essentials of your everyday processes; the 80/20! if you can automate the 80%, you will have the manpower to deal with the fringe cases if the system can’t support them
• look for vendors with business understanding, not just technical gurus (it doesn’t matter how great they are, if they don’t understand Procurement, how can they build a Procurement system?)
• look for solutions that not only solve the 80%, but for a vendor that can configure the solution to support and enable the process your people have to do multiple times a day every day while doing the 80%; you can always get consulting help or another system if the 20% is really that difficult, important, or valuable
  

While the process could be very involved to select the right vendor, the process to narrow down the vendors are not — if the potential vendor doesn’t understand your use cases, can’t show you how to enable them efficiently and effectively (in an improved process that your team members not only can, but want to use), or can’t convince you it’s at least the 80%, roll on.

But trust us when we say the solutions are out there to solve the vast majority of your Procurement problems, and do so in a relatively simple manner. No complexity required!