Category Archives: Vendor Review

It’s … It’s … It’s … Coupa-sonic!

The press-release hits the wire later today, but ISM started yesterday, and thus your chance to see the new version of Coupa‘s Enterprise Procurement Platform is here! It’s not only Purchasing Simplified, it’s the next evolution of on-demand procurement for the small and mid-sized enterprise.

The enterprise version of Coupa not only supports the procurement cycle from end-user requisition through delivery confirmation, but also supports approval hierarchies, attachments and automatic PDF creation, punch-out support, asset tagging, multi-way matching, and even RFQs! (I know, I know … everybody and their dog supports RFQs these days, but how many people include this basic e-Sourcing functionality inside an e-Procurement system at no-extra cost? And how many are designed with the straightforward needs of a SME in mind? And how many are easy to use?)

Based on Coupa’s underlying open-source Coupa Express platform, the industry’s first freely downloadable eProcurement solution, a company can be up and running on Coupa almost immediately. According to Lynell Rogeri of Cantaxx, Coupa Enterprise was delivering results within 24 hours of installation and the simple, ‘clean’, screens allowed them to be much more productive than they could have been with traditional procurement software. Furthermore, Coupa offers the breadth of functionality that gives them exactly the business process support they need.

As per the press release:

Small and mid-size companies that want a simple and affordable solution to automate their purchasing, invoicing, and eRFQ processes can now choose Coupa eProcurement Enterprise. Delivered as On-Demand or On-Premise software, Coupa eProcurement Enterprise includes full product support and offers a total cost of ownership that is 10 to 20 percent of what companies pay for traditional eProcurement solutions.

So, if you’re in Vegas, be sure to check out their ISM booth! If you weren’t able to make it, attend their webinar and check out the new Coupa website!

And if you missed any, here are the previous posts on Coupa’s product:
More Than Coupacetic
Riding the Rails with Coupa
Coupa Charges Ahead
Coupa Cabana Cafe: Open For Business
Procurement Independence at the Coupa Cabana Cafe

As well as the Coupa production chant in
Davie and the Coupa Factory

After all, It’s Coupa Time!

The SAPphire Sensation

As just about everyone in the enterprise space knows, SAP‘s big annual conference, SAPPHIRE, was last week, and, especially since SAP took the progressive stance of again reaching out and inviting bloggers to cover the conference, it received quite a bit of press. Since I was not among the fortunate few invited to Atlanta to cover the conference, I’ve been keeping up with the postings of the bloggers who were in attendance to try and figure out what what SAP has been up to.

A number of leading bloggers, including Jason Busch of Spend Matters, Dennis Howlett of AccMan [WayBackMachine], Jerry Bowles of Enterprise Web 2.0, Craig Cmehil of Craig’s Rantings [WayBackMachine], Michael Cote of People Over Process, Dan Farber of Between the Lines, Thomas Otter of Vendorprisey, and Robin Fray Carey of Social Media Today [WayBackMachine] were in attendance and together posted a considerable amount of coverage and insight (which can be augmented by a few thought pieces from AMR as well).

From these posts (which are direct-linked at the bottom of this post), one learns the following about SAP:

  • SAP has their work cut out for them if they ever want to reach a thought leadership position in the sourcing and procurement space.
  • SAP recognizes that their solution is quite expensive compared to other best-of-breed solutions and that users today want to try before they buy (even though what they have is not yet competitive with some of the other best-of-breed players).
  • SAP has recognized the need for proper spend analytics.
  • SAP’s Master Data Management Solution is not ready for prime-time.
  • SAP’s Duet offering (being jointly developed with Microsoft) is not ready for prime-time either (despite its sale to 250 customers), but 1.5, intended to have better integration between Microsoft Office and SAP business processes, is slated for later this year. However, it may be version 2.0 (slated for release in late 2008) before it lives up to initial expectations.
  • SAP is starting to understand the importance of community in sourcing, procurement, and the supply chain as a whole (and that SDN and BPK will be key to their innovation strategy), and is working on a social computing application called Harmony, currently under a controlled test, as well as doing a lot more development with partners.
  • SAP is still solid on Netweaver as the center of its platform
  • A1S, the upcoming on-demand mid-market platform built on a SOA architecture and pegged for a 2008 release, remains a mystery and source of confusion.
  • No more MySAP, it’s now SAP ERP 6.0.
  • SAP wants 100,000 customers by 2010 (as compared to the 39,000 it has today).
  • SAP will embed the Adobe Acrobat Connect Professional Web conference system in its workforce development product.

The following news is quite interesting:

  • SAP is now offering a 90-day E-Sourcing trial consisting of 3 pre-configured events for only $10,000 that comes with (limited) training and support
  • Their forthcoming spend analytics xAPP solution should have a much better UI than old-school SAP products
  • Most customers only use 30% of SAP functionality

The E-Sourcing offering is likely to get them a lot of traction, but is it likely to win them a lot of business. I expect that many customers who do not have an E-Sourcing solution at present will try it, say “that’s great”, but then start looking elsewhere when they get the quote, since I believe Iasta (acquired by Selectica, merged with b-Pack, rebranded Determine, acquired by Corcentric) and Procuri (acquired by Ariba, acquired by SAP)will offer considerably more on-demand functionality at a considerably smaller price-tag for some time to come. As Jason Busch said, once users sip the Kool-Aid, they’ll want to buy their own refrigerator, blender, mixers, and booze to tailor it just to their liking and although some may have the budget to afford SAPs full offering, I’m betting many won’t.

The xAPP solution is interesting since it sounds like it will compete fairly well with solutions offered by Emptoris (acquired by IBM, sunset in 2017), Ketera (acquired by Deem), Procuri, and Zycus and since it sounds like they have integrated Macromedia UI capabilities, and maybe even Flex, into the application.

The 30% statistic, although something I more-or-less knew as a technology expert, is interesting nonetheless as it comes straight from the source and hammers on the need to carefully evaluate what you are buying, whether you truly need it, and how many seats you really need if you do before you sign the contract. Otherwise, you might end up paying millions more than you need to. And although every large corporation needs a solid ERP system for their master data store, it forces you to think about whether you will get solid value for the price, especially since there are much more affordable enterprise open-source alternatives, such as Aptean Compiere, out there. For some companies, a properly configured SAP instance with the appropriate number of licenses will be worth (much more than) the cost, but for others, it may not be.

I’d like to leave you with a paragraph from Brian Sommers, whose long blog entry of yesterday drives the point home.


The users that should be showcased at these events are the ones who spent a pittance and got a ton of value. Morever, the focus should be on highlighting the customers who were able to figure out a lot of the change management challenges on their own and actually solved them without the use of consultants or a strait-jacketing piece of technology.

The Links:

  • Spend Matters [WayBackMachine] by Jason Busch
    SAP: 3 Sourcing Events for $10K?*
    SAP Gets Serious about Spend Analytics*
    SAP SRM Users: Don’t Feel Compelled to Upgrade to MDM*
    Waiting for Duet*
    SAP’s E-Sourcing Transformation: Part 1 — Setting the Stage*
    SAP’s E-Sourcing Transformation: Part 2 — The Services Ecosystem*
    SAP’s E-Sourcing Transformation: Part 3 — Just the Product Facts*
    Procurement Goes Main Stage at Sapphire*
    Making the Sapphire Procurement Scenario Real*
    SAP needs to Realize that Procurement Extends Beyond the Four Walls*
  • AccMan [WayBackMachine] by Dennis Howlett
    SAPPHIRE 07 – Day 1, the wrap
    Hasso Plattner’s blackboard
    On not seeing A1S
    Will You Trust SAP With Your Business?
    Harmonising inside SAP
    SAPs A1S go to market strategy – the addressable market
    SAPs A1S go to market strategy – potential hurdles
    SAPPHIRE wrap
    AMR sees A1S, confusion reigns
    Flashing Open the A1S Kimono
  •  Craig’s Rantings [WayBackMachine] by Craig Cmehil
    Oracle invades SAP SAPPHIRE
    SDN and SAPedias
    Emerging Solutions brings “Harmony” to the Enterprise

People Over Process by Michael Cote
Sapphire 07: Support, Enterprise 2.0
Sapphire 07: Stable Agility, Web 2.0 Everywhere

Between the Lines WayBackMachine] by Dan Farber
SAP Sapphire gets underway
SAP internalizes social networking for business
MySAP fades into history
SAP aims A1S on demand solution for 2008
Hasso Plattner outlines SAP’s software vision
SAP and Microsoft lay out Duet roadmap
SAP gets on the Enterprise 2.0 bandwagon
SAP CEO: We are not arrogant, we are the market leader

Social Media Today [WayBackMachine] by Robin Fray Carey
Meanwhile, at Virtual SAPPHIRE
Dennis Moore at SAPPHIRE: “No More Waterfalls”
Hasso Plattner: “Virtual is Real”

Vendorprisey by Thomas Otter
Live blogging Leo’s keynote
The name game. My My.
The future of HR systems and thinking?
Henning’s Kagermann’s Keynote
Rio Tinto, SAP, talent management and Youtube
Talking GRC and the office of the CFO gang at Sapphire
Dinner with SAP customers and an old friend
Co-innovation is a strength not a weakness

Enterprise Web 2.0 or
Enterprise Irregulars by Jerry Bowles
SAP Shows the Love for Bloggers
SAP to Enterprise 2.0 Community: We Get It

Enterprise Irregulars by Brian Sommer
Getting to know the SAP Customer

AMR
“SAPPHIRE 2007: Usability and Flexibility Take Center Stage” by AMR Research Staff
“SAPPHIRE: SAP Widens Its Embrace to the Extended Value Chain” by Stephen Hochman, Mark Hillman of AMR
“SAPPHIRE 2007: SAP Lets the A1S “Secret” Out of the Bag” by Simon Jacobson, Jim Shepherd
“SAP is Starting to Take a Leadership Role” with SRM by Mickey North Rizza, Jane Barrett

“Sapphire 2007: An SAP SRM Gem?” by Aberdeen

P.S. David Bush of e-Sourcing Forum [WayBackMachine] offered his opinion of Spend Matters’ ERP week yesterday.

P.P.S. I also hear Jason Wood of Ponderings of Woodrow and Mike Masnick of TechDirt were present for at least part of the conference, so you might want to check their blogs in the coming days as well to see if they posted their thoughts.

More Than Coupacetic!

Every now and again, the oompa loompas leave the big-screen TV unguarded and the Wii unlocked (“WII: Lessons for Enterprise Software Companies” on Procurement Central [WayBackMachine]). During such a time, it’s often possible to sneak past the grunka lunkas and get a demo of the latest development cut of the forthcoming Coupa Enterprise 1.0 release.

And I must say, it’s coupendous. Coupa is moving up the ranks and setting their sights on the minor league championship – the sweet spot for any small and mid size company that wants to stop living in the stone-age with the Flintstones and join the Jetsons in the future. (Now, I love the Bedrock Anthem as much as the next blogger, but I’d much rather you follow the first rule of cost avoidance.)

They’ve been working really hard at Coupa since their enterprise beta release and the number of features it supports has been Coupa-sized. The world’s simplest purchasing tool is not just for requisitions anymore! Look for a major announcement before ISM hits.

In the meantime, I can tell you that they’ve improved the application end-to-end with UI updates, improved search and filter functionality, and improved support for document management across the board. In addition, they’ve also implemented some internationalization support, including multi-currency.

Stay tuned. I should have more details within the week on this coupacetic application.

No Advanced Sourcing at Oracle

I was recently asked what I thought about Oracle’s Advanced Procurement Solution, and its optimization offering (new in version 12.0) in particular. The short answer is that it doesn’t make the cut in my book. The core sourcing cycle consists of spend analysis, RFx, auction / bid collection, decision optimization, and contracting. In order to be considered an advanced sourcing application, in my book, the underlying spend analysis technology, decision optimization technology, and contract management technology must support advanced capabilities. Although Oracle Procurement Contracts might be considered a fair contract management tool, it is certainly not advanced and it is by far the most developed of the offerings.

Oracle’s sourcing optimization product is pretty basic. It only supports three constraints: header, which can be used to constrain the maximum award amount or exclude one or more suppliers by scores, line constraints, which determine which, and how many, suppliers can split a line item award, and to what extent, and supplier which can be used to globally limit the number of suppliers and the award to certain suppliers. Basically, they support basic exclusion, capacity, allocation, and qualitative constraints. Not bad compared to most of the “optimization solutions on the market, but not really advanced sourcing.

Regular readers will note that I have four basic requirements for a true strategic sourcing decision optimization product:

  1. solid mathematical foundations
  2. true cost modeling
  3. four key categories of sophisticated constraints:

      capacity, basic allocation, risk mitigation, and qualitative

  4. sophisticated what-if capability

Since it uses ILog CPlex, it meets the solid mathematical foundations (provided that the underlying model is a true representation, and not a heuristic simplification), it has basic what-if capability, it mostly meets the minimum constraint requirements, but definitely falls short on true cost modeling. In order to allow for true cost modeling, a decision support must support tiered bids (or discounts that can model the tiered bids), flexible discounts, separate cost components (or at least flexible adjustments), and fixed costs. To the best of my knowledge, although Oracle’s tool does offer some volume discounts, it does not support multi-level tiered bids, flexible discounts, separate cost components (and at least freight should be supported), or fixed costs. In the constraint department, they do support basic capacity, allocation, risk mitigation, and qualitative constraints, but they are all tied to an item or an entire order. Qualitative constraints should be definable at the supplier, item, or location level, a concept the tool doesn’t yet support to the best of my knowledge, risk mitigation should be definable across item, group, or order, and only item and order appear to be supported, and capacity, allocation, and exclusion should be equally as flexible. Plus, the Oracle tool doesn’t have any constraints beyond these absolute basic constraints.

Ahoya, Akoya

When I was being blown away in the windy city, I had a chance to sit down with Brett Holland, Co-Founder and SVP of Akoya (acquired by i-Cubed). It was an illuminating conversation, and one that highlighted why companies like Akoya and Apriori are taking spend management to a whole new level, especially in manufacturing (even though they are both attacking problems at different ends of the spectrum using two different approaches). Not wanting to spoil Brett’s upcoming posts over on Spend Matters, I decided to hold off on a post of my own.

In his “Getting Ahead of the Product Cost Management Curve”* post on Spend Matters [WayBackMachine], Brett points out that procurement and sourcing play a very critical role in understanding the product cost implications associated with the sourcing and purchasing of engineered components and that procurement and supply management can and should lead conversations regarding product costs since today’s spend management 2.0 solutions allow procurement and sourcing professionals to arm themselves with much more information about what drives costs and where there are opportunities to save money in direct materials and contract manufactured component categories. Furthermore, most of the current approaches in the market are highly complementary to each other and manufacturing companies should be working with all types of product cost management techniques to maximize their position in an increasingly competitive environment. And this last point is key. One solution is great – a small basket of complementary solutions that attack cost from all the angles is either better.

In his “Taking Control of Cost Management for Engineered Direct Materials”* post on Spend Matters, Brett points out that in the past, there have not been very good ways to systematically find cost inefficiencies and take action on them within engineered direct materials. Companies have developed cross functional teams, conducted six sigma projects, brought in consultants and domain experts, but none of them have had the direct access to the critical data and the analytical tools to dissect it so they could have a clear picture on the factors that drive cost inefficiencies in the direct materials across the organization.

However, today, analytical solutions are available for product cost management that can take the data that is within your control – financial, purchasing, supplier, and manufacturing – analyze it, and present you with a highly accurate list of parts that have potential cost savings. Additionally, these analytical solutions provide reasons why these savings opportunities exist and potential actions to take to capture them. The analytical solutions can then be complimented by activity-based cost models, risk management solutions, supplier relationship management solutions, and e-Procurement packages that help execute on the actions.

Furthermore, Today’s product cost management analytics work by drawing out the elemental factors within the part and its manufacturing requirements that drive the cost. They then analyze this data to determine commonality and comparability, and can predict target costs. They augment (and sometimes correct) this predicted cost with data that determines the factors that may contribute to cost inefficiencies (you can think of it as the evidence that makes the case). From this combination of approaches, these analytical solutions can accurately assess which parts are good renegotiation candidates, which parts are good resourcing candidates, which suppliers are best at each part, and other actionable findings.

This last point is key – and why you should use a basket of complementary solutions, starting with Akoya and Apriori. Akoya helps you figure out where you are likely overspending and why, and Apriori helps you figure out by how much and what you do about it, with its process-based mechanistic cost models. In other words, given the forest, Akoya helps you find the trees that need to be cut down and Apriori is the saw you use to tackle the trees.

For another perspective on Akoya, refer back to Jason’s “Spend Management Goes Upstream: Part 3 – The Akoya Philosophy” post.

* All posts prior to 2012 were removed in the Spend Matters site refresh in June, 2023.