Insights by Nitor

In our previous blog, Selecting a S2P Technology Part I – Requirement Gathering, we discussed the steps necessary to gather your requirements and prepare your RFP documentation for a Source-to-Pay (S2P) Technology. In Part II of our blog, we will explore how to go to market for a S2P Technology solution.

The Treasury and Working Capital Survival Guide

The world has changed rapidly in the last 30 days.  The US economy went from setting a record for the length of the expansion to setting a record for the fastest recession in the history of the United States.  Navigating through this gut-wrenching reversal requires decisive management action, focus, and speed.  A critical component of this process is successfully managing working capital.  Management teams must evaluate working capital needs and utilize working capital as a key resource to sustain ongoing business activities.

Ask any master woodworker what the most important skill is in woodworking. The answer won’t have anything to do with saws, chisels, or hand planes. It won’t be about design, planning, or building. The most important skill is fixing their mistakes. Master woodworkers will saw outside their line, they’ll have an errant hit with a chisel, they’ll ding the corner of their piece. They all make mistakes. Great woodworkers, however, know how to fix their mistakes.

Your organization has made the decision to invest in a Source-to-Pay (S2P) technology and you have been asked to lead the selection project.  The selection of a technology is typically a large investment, and you will be establishing a provider partnership that will last many years – it is critical that you select the right technology and partner.  Recognizing this, you sit down to start thinking about your approach and quickly realize that selecting a S2P technology is a complex project that requires you to understand the needs of stakeholders throughout your organization along with the current functionality and capabilities of the S2P technology providers in the marketplace. How should you go about pulling together all of the information you need to effectively go to market? What questions do you need to ask of providers?  Do you have a sufficient understanding of the technology to ask the right questions? How do you evaluate and compare the technologies?

Congratulations! Your company has made the decision to streamline and simplify the way they do business by investing in a source-to-pay (S2P) software solution.

Now, how do you get your suppliers to adopt the idea of transacting electronically? This S2P implementation impacts more than just your company; if your suppliers are not onboard with this change, it could create a strain on your relationships and negatively impact the bottom line.

Source-to-Pay (S2P) deployment projects are a large undertaking for any organization. These initiatives require a large resource investment, so there are high expectations on value delivery. There can be pressure to complete the project quickly leading many organizations to dive right into the deployment, which can cause challenges and risks to project delivery.

The U.S. Department of Defense has pressed the pause button on its search for a cloud computing vendor.

Earlier this month reports in NPR said only a few weeks before the government was slated to announce the winner of a 10-year, $10 billion cloud computing Project under Project Joint Enterprise Defense Infrastructure (Project JEDI), newly-appointed Defense Secretary Mark Esper decided to halt and review the process.

Nitor, the leader in source-to-pay transformation, and Ivalua, a leading provider of global Spend Management Cloud Solutions, announced the successful launch of the Maryland Department of General Services’ new e-procurement system, eMaryland Marketplace Advantage (eMMA), which deployed on schedule and on budget.

eMMA is state-of-the-art procurement technology powered by the Ivalua Platform, a global leader in procurement technology. When fully implemented, eMMA will allow buyers to collaborate with vendors from the bidding and contracting process all the way through the purchasing process. The initiative is intended to drive transparency, quality, and compliance in state procurement and improve the overall experience for all stakeholders.

Maryland Department of General Services Office of State Procurement launches new e-procurement system

BALTIMORE, MD – The Maryland Department of General Services today announced the Office of State Procurement launched the state’s new e-procurement system eMaryland Marketplace Advantage (eMMA). This initiative is a direct result of Governor Larry Hogan’s 2016 Commission to Modernize State Procurement, led by Lt. Governor Boyd K. Rutherford.

You secured the budget, obtained leadership endorsement, purchased your procurement software, and are ready to implement. Then it hits you – there is no way we can do this on our own! If that sounds like you…you are not alone. In fact, the vast majority of companies preparing to implement procurement automation software have correctly realized they need the help of an experienced, certified software implementation partner.

The journey is full of challenges, some you may not know exist. Software providers do the best they can during the sales cycle to prepare you, but the reality is, there is just too much to know. It can feel overwhelming to look at an 8 – 18 month project plan with more than six workstreams. Planning your team’s resource utilization, understanding how each workstream ties into the others and connecting dependencies – HELP!

It’s time to reach out for help and find an implementation partner. Here are some ideas of what to look for when selecting a partner.