Category Archives: Vendor Review

Cap Gemini IBX – Closing the Loop on Source to Pay

Cap Gemini is a one of the world’s largest multi-national consulting companies headquartered in Paris, France that focusses on management, outsourcing, and technology-based consulting and specializes in strategy, digital transformation, finance, marketing, IT strategy, solutions design, big data / analytics, and supply chain management consulting. Of course, we are primarily interested in the latter and, in particular, any technology underpinnings.

As part of their technology underpinnings, Cap Gemini has three primary offerings. Spend Analysis, powered by Spend Radar; Procurement Intelligence, powered by Microsoft’s Strategy Companion; and the IBX Business Network that implements their Source-to-Pay platform with e-Sourcing, e-Procurement, and supplier (portal) support. This is what we’re going to cover briefly in this post.

The solution is a seamlessly integrated Source to Pay Solution with a global supplier network, where suppliers can self-register, manage their customer interactions through a portal with a single integrated view, and even manage their invoices that originate outside of the IBX platform (which is a unique capability that will be discussed later on). If you consider the classic Sourcing and Procurement lifecycle, first diagramed by the doctor on SI back in the doctor wants to remind you it’s Sourcing and Procurement, a good S2P solution needs a lot of capability, especially if you want to capture low-volume purchases and spot-buys (and, in particular, catalog management needs to underlie the requisition through the approval process). The IBX platform contains, to some degree, almost everything indicated in this diagram (with the exception of true strategic sourcing decision optimization, which we know is currently limited to the six samurai) plus a lot of cool supplier network, catalog management, and spot-buy features, including a few that you will not find in any other (best-of-breed) platform on the planet.

In this post, we’re going to focus on spot-buy and the invoice management dashboard, as they are the most unique offerings in the platform. The new spot-buy functionality allows a requisitioner to create a requisition for anything they need, fill out as much information as possible (including expected pricing), suggest one or more suppliers on the network, and route it to Sourcing for identification of the proper products and/or services. A (senior) buyer in Sourcing will validate the request, choose the appropriate sourcing process (RFX, auction, third-party catalog offering), make a selection, and return it to the buyer for final acceptance and submission, at which time it will be routed to the appropriate approvers. Note that we say Sourcing, not a buyer, as it contains rule-based workflow management that allow it to be routed to the buyer with the proper authority with the smallest workload to minimize processing time.

The new invoice management dashboard, designed for the supplier, allows a supplier to sign in and see on one screen the status of every invoice sent to every customer on, and off, of the IBX network as well as drill in and get as much related information as there is for IBX platform invoices (including, but not limited to, conversations, buyer requested corrections, goods receipts, purchase orders, etc.). The system supports uploads from standard AP and ERP systems for suppliers to get this information in the system. Being able to log into one portal and service all their IBX customers through one login and one interface is great, but being able to manage all of their invoices, which is something that is always top of mind for a supplier, is even better still.

There’s a lot of other cool and powerful features in the IBX system, and they are covered in detail in the recent piece by the doctor and the prophet over on Spend Matters Pro (Part 1 of 2, membership required) which gives one of the most in-depth and balanced reviews of the system that you are going to find anywhere.

HICX: HI-C to the X for SXM

HICX Solutions, a provider of a leading Supplier Management platform, was founded in London in 2004 to create a platform to effectively tackle supplier master data management and supplier risk management. Recognizing that the Supplier Information Management (SIM) platforms of the day were not enough to effectively manage suppliers — especially since the data was needed in ERP/MRP, sourcing, procurement, logistics, and related systems — they embarked upon a mission to create a solution that fixes that.

The problem with SIM solutions, besides the fact that they aren’t true SPM (Supplier Performance Management) or SRM (Supplier Relationship Management) solutions; don’t address risk; and don’t address supplier development, is that SIM is not master data management. It’s supplier data management, but it’s data management within the platform. An organization needs supplier data management throughout the enterprise, not just a single platform. And that is effectively master data management (MDM).

And that is HICX’s core strength. It’s cradle-to-grave supplier management and contract management is built upon this core industry leading MDM capability that can not only accept data from and push data to dozens of ERP and best-of-breed systems throughout the enterprise, but can automatically match and merge the majority of such data, even upon an initial engagement. (HICX has already mapped common fields in dozens of ERP and best-of-breed systems and if your systems have already been mapped, you can skip the mapping step that typically precedes a data merge process.) The MDM system will automatically identify duplicates and conflicts and human data stewards will only need to correct records on an exception basis (when there is a conflict as the system can be programmed to ignore exact duplicates on import).

On top of this MDM capability, HICX has implemented a suite of solutions for:

  • Supplier On-boarding for discovery, enrolment, and enablement on the system
  • Supplier Data Management for supplier data centralization and management
  • Supplier Performance Management for KPI, issue, and initiative tracking
  • Supplier Risk & Compliance Management for risk factor, regulatory, and insurance tracking
  • Supplier Corrective Action Management for issue identification, resolution plans, and implementation tracking

The supplier on-boarding, which is built on the industry leading MDM, is a particular platform strength. In the HICX, the on-boarding process can start as early as the identification of a new supplier which is onboarded using a process that adapts to the type of supplier (be it under consideration as a long-term [strategic] supplier, a sub-contractor, a one-off vendor, logistics company, government organization, etc.) and that is simplified with the provision of a D&B (or equivalent) number that allows for all public information to be automatically imported. One advantage of the solution is that, even before a supplier is onboarded, potential matches or duplicates in the system are automatically identified to prevent a user from inviting a supplier that is already doing business with another organizational unit. And if additional data is needed, data can be imported quickly from any platform using their script-based import capability.

For more information on HICX Solutions, check out the 2-part series on Spend Matters Pro (Part I and Part II [coming soon]) [membership required] by the doctor and the prophet. This in-depth analysis is definitely worth your time if you are on the market for a SxM solution and trying to not only identify the leaders (of which HICX is one), but determine which of the leading solutions is right for you.

Claritum – Medicine for the Procurement Soul, Part II

As per part I, while Claritum might sound like the latest miracle drug for the sinus, it’s really the latest miracle drug for Procurement — and when SI says miracle, it’s because, properly used, it really does work.

So what does Claritum cure? As per Part I, Claritum is the cure for SOOM. (SOOM, not VOOM.) Spend Out Of Management. How does it cure this? By providing a platform for spend not typically captured by the traditional Sourcing or Procurement platform so that the spend can become spend under management. This way, unless it’s spend that has to be made off site (at an event, during travel, etc.), or the buyer wants to keep the spend out of the system (because he doesn’t want the preferred product or wants to hide what the spend truly is for as long as possible), it can be made through the system that supports a process to get the right product or service at the right price.

Claritum provides a consumer shopping site solution that can be offered by the organization’s Procurement department, their service provider, or GPO. This shopping solution offers the traditional product catalogs that you will find on consumer sites like Amazon and competing provider catalog sites. It also contains standard rate-card service requisitions that you will find on (contingent and service) labour management platforms. Plus, it contains (the ability to create) template requisitions for all standard tail-spend categories, which can be searched and added to the “cart” as easy as standard catalog items. And, as expected, it contains free-form RFX ability for buyers to requisition anything not already covered. Basically, everything that can be bought through a platform can be bought through the platform and the only spend that should not be captured is on-site T&E spend (tickets for travel can be requisitioned through the platform, and the senior buyer responsible for T&E can process the request, create the PO, and then there is a PO to match the p-Card payment to) and on-site event spend, which should be a very low amount of tail-spend.

Now, this might not sound that special, as providers like IBX and Deem offer a lot of this capability, but this is just the surface of the Claritum platform. First of all, the Claritum platform was designed with multi-organizational use in mind and can be administered by a GPO who manages contracts for multiple clients, who can customize the catalog and offerings to the need of each client individually. Second, the RFX management process, which is tightly integrated into the catalog, is very deep and the requisitions can be set-up to make sure the right requests go to the right buyers and then the right approvers, and the right buyer can select the right suppliers, manage the process, select the winner, and send it back to the requisitioner who can then complete the process (and confirm the need) by adding the award to the cart, and checking out, which sends the request to the proper approver(s). Third, the API allows the platform to be integrated with all organizational ERPs, AP systems, and supplier catalogs, to make sure the right data gets into and out of the system. And fourth, and this sets it apart from all its competitors, it has the ability to manage stock inventory within the platform. Items come from the stock-room (or supplier store-room) first before requests for new shipments are made. And that stock-room inventory, including automatic replenishment rules, can be managed by an internal inventory manager, the GPO, or the vendor, depending on where the stock is located and who is (contractually) required to manage it.

Considering that many big organizations use GPOs or service providers for at least a portion of the tail-spend, it only makes sense to have a platform that can be managed by those same providers for the portion of tail-spend they manage. The Claritum platform is the only one that SI has seen that truly has these three components. The buyer store. The deep sourcing and procurement platform (which can be internal to Procurement, external in the GPO, or managed jointly). And the full featured supplier portal.

So if you want to get your tail spend under management, the doctor recommends that you check out the Claritum platform today. It really is worth a close look, even if you already have a S2P platform, because the extensive API will support integration and the ability to capture organizational spend outside of Procurement is the next big savings opportunity in many organizations. And if you have the choice of platform, Claritum is the one that should be Stuck With You.

Claritum – Medicine for the Procurement Soul, Part I

While Claritum might sound like the latest miracle drug for the sinus, it’s really the latest miracle drug for Procurement — and when SI says miracle, it’s because, properly used, it really does work better than expected.

So what does Claritum cure? SOOM. (Not VOOM, SOOM!) Spend Out Of Management. How does it cure this? Before we can answer that, we have to identify the main types of SOOM.

If Spend Under Management, SUM, is typically spend that is (strategically) sourced or requisitioned/ordered through the e-Procurement system (by way of a catalog, punch-out, requisition, or spot-buy) and tracked then SOOM is, simply put, everything else. What does this everything else look like?

  • maverick spend
  • one-time buys (for promotions, special projects)
  • print/packaging
  • Travel & Expense (T&E)
  • Event
  • MRO
  • Marketing Services
  • Uniforms and Apparel
  • Furniture
  • office products / consumables
  • low-dollar services and temporary labour
  • unique needs not met by current suppliers
  • misc. p-Card spend, including the strip club bill

Essentially, it is the “tail” spend of the organization (especially if it shows up on the p-Card of a certain executive or salesperson). In an above-average organization, this will typically be 20%-ish of spend. In a below-average organization, with a lot of spend managed by various departments and a lot of maverick spend, this could be 40%-ish of spend.

In other words, SOOM is everything Sourcing hasn’t sourced and Procurement can’t manage. Why can’t Procurement manage the spend? Let’s take the examples one by one.

  • one-time buys (for promotions, special projects)
    there is no RFX template, so the system is just by-passed
  • print/packaging
    thesystem isn’t set up to handle print jobs, so the staff just goes to staples or office depot
  • Travel & Expense
    there is no T&E platform support, so everyone just uses their own credit cards and expenses a month to three later because it’s easier
  • Event
    event management has unique requirements, and so is done offline
  • MRO
    service calls are unplanned, parts are bought as needed, and janitorial supplies are too insignificant for sourcing
  • Marketing Services
    marketing statements of work and account management requires special support, not in a standard RFX, so the tool is again bypassed
  • Uniforms and Apparel
    sizes, colours, etc. aren’t on the standard RFX, and it’s one time, and it’s easier to order through the supplier site, so that happens
  • Furniture
    it’s a one-time buy, so just go to the furniture store, put it on the p-Card
  • office products / consumables
    there’s no simple reorder form, so it’s simple to just have the accounts manager ship and bill you the monthly order and pay on the p-Card
  • low-dollar services and temporary labour
    it’s easier to call up the temp labour agency or the consultancy of choice, have them send the resource, and bill you later than try to go through the process
  • unique needs not met by current suppliers
    since the system isn’t set up for supplier discovery, you do the web search, have a few chats, find a supplier you feel comfortable with, have them ship the products, send the invoice, and then you instruct AP to pay it upon goods receipt
  • misc. p-Card spend, including the strip club bill
    for anything non-standard, if the p-Card is accepted, it is easier, especially if it’s spend you want to hide the spend until it’s too late for the organization to do anything about it (and there is a process that allows you to do so)
  • maverick spend
    for anything the buyer wants to break the rules for

In other words, the main reasons Procurement can’t manage the spend are:

  • the buyer doesn’t want the spend managed,
  • the process doesn’t support the spend, or, primarily,
  • the Sourcing and Procurement platform(s) don’t support the spend.

And that’s the kicker. Most platforms have been designed to capture the strategic or high-volume spend and customized to that, following the 80/20 rule under the assumption that most of the savings is in the top 80% which has the volume leverage and supplier relationship leverage. And while this is mostly true, especially since advanced sourcing can save an average of 10%, indicating that there is 8% potential savings, this 8% savings is only achievable over a 3 year timeframe, as most organizations only strategically source about 1/3 of their spend annually. In other words, an average organization repeatedly sourcing the same spend only saves about 3% annually. What goes unnoticed is the bottom 20% of spend which, due to lack of analysis and effort, typically contains an overspend of 10% to 30% (with an average overspend in the 15% range). This is significant. 15% of 20% is 3%, about the same as an organization pushes to the bottom line with strategic sourcing. And this spend is made every year, and this savings, if the spend could be managed, is available every year. If I’m losing out on 50% of my savings, I Want A New Drug!

So if you had a platform designed for this tail spend, which supported the right processes needed by the individuals who contribute to tail spend, most of this spend could be captured. And that’s what the Claritum platform is designed to do – capture all of the tail spend that buyers throughout the organization need to make. How does the Claritum platform do that? Come back for Part II.

Per Angusta: Purchasing CRM

Per Angusta is an interesting SaaS company in the Procurement space. While most Procurement companies focus on the Sourcing or Procurement process, or supplier management, Per Angusta focuses on the workflow that ties it all together — a workflow that is typically managed in Microsoft Excel Spreadsheet Hell.

In particular, Per Angusta is a SaaS platform built to manage sourcing pipelines, track savings for organizational validation, and make Procurement’s impact visible to the organization — which, as per Sigi Osagie (the master of Procurement Mojo), is the key to building your Procurement Brand.

One of the unique things about the Solution is that the Sourcing Project Management Tool is not only designed to manage the sourcing workflow, but to integrate with your best-of-breed sourcing and procurement tool either out of the box (and, out of the box, integrates with Rosslyn Analytics, HICX, Market Dojo, and other Per Angusta partners) or through the API that is being released shortly.

The solution contains all of the basic project management capabilities you would expect, as well as a few unexpected ones including, but not limited to, deep configuration capability, a supplier data repository, and even Slack integration. Moreover, the strengths of the solution are exactly what you need — flexible project definition and the ability to track deep negotiation details. The platform can track projects of different expense types, document proposed negotiation strategies, and document the requirements of each stage: need definition, sourcing, negotiation, and signature. This is a very powerful capability as it allows the Procurement team to demonstrate that over 80% of the costs are locked in during the design and sourcing phases, and that very little savings can be obtained if the stakeholder waits until the (end) of negotiations and the contract phase to engage Procurement.

The Per Angusta platform is one that is worth exploring in detail, and for a very in-depth review, you can check out the recent piece over on Spend Matters Pro co-authored by the doctor and the prophet.