The digital world has experienced strong growth in recent decades. Clearly, the trend is not towards the removal of tools in the world of Purchases. Putting forward an effective strategy will increasingly involve choosing the tools best suited to the profile of your company and its short- and long-term objectives. It is becoming essential, as of today, to include digital technology in the purchasing strategy !
To choose The solution that best meets their needs, procurement managers and their teams need to focus on several things:
Key n°1: Raise ergonomics in the first selection criteria, with functional coverage and cost
- Indeed, user interfaces must be simple, ergonomic, fast and standard. We advise you to introduce this criterion in your evaluation grid and to involve users in the choice of the e-procurement solution!
Key n°2: Consider the solution publisher as a strategic supplier that is difficult to substitute
- Apply your organization's criteria and practices for strategic suppliers such as: financial study (equity, debt), supplier strategy, absorption risks, quality audit (visit of the publisher's premises) and complemented by a technical audit (technological sustainability, data security, connectors) with experts or your CIO.
Key n°3: Take care of upstream studies, which will facilitate and guide the choice towards the best solution
- As with any strategic purchasing, the rigorous realization of studies upstream of the selection of the digital purchasing solution is essential to the Project Success. Alignment with the corporate strategy and of course purchasing, precise definition of objectives and scope, risk assessment, identification of field needs, definition of specifications, functional and technical architecture (Saas vs Hosted) and definition of the implementation and deployment plan (change).
- Challenge the publisher on your strategy and implementation plan. Clarify the services that will need to be provided before contracting. In the design phase, in the implementation phase (settings, ERP interfaces), in operation (maintenance and support) and reversibility.
Key n°4: Qualify the functional coverage of the tool in relation to your functional specifications
- We recommend a 3-step approach: Inventory of functional needs and technical requirements, functional and technical specifications, and ideally "Proof of concept" prototype of the most critical features.