Vendor Compliance

Jason Busch, over at SpendMatters, just took a stab at Segmenting the Supplier Information and Relatonship Management Market.   He defined three approaches:   analytics and predictive forecasting; data centric and data management; and documentation and relationship/process management optimization.  

The first group of providers fall into what I’ll term the documentation and relationship / process optimization bucket. These are providers that fundamentally approach the supplier information and relationship management challenge from the vantage point of documenting supplier credentials, certifications, relationships and other requirements. They also aim to optimize the overall supplier relationship and streamline internal processes for managing suppliers. In some cases, organizations might use these providers to manage only a subset of their supply base for certain programs (e.g., performance, environmental compliance, supplier enablement, etc.) But in others, these programs will focus on getting 100% — or close to 100% — of a supply base on-boarded or into a centralized system. In the later scenario, companies might opt to manage basic information for the broader group (e.g., certifications, risk) while taking a highly focused, deeper relationship and information management approach with a select sub-set of suppliers for specific programs (e.g., performance) or based on the value of that sub-group to the business. What providers fall into this bucket? Hiperos, Aravo, Browz, Vendormate are four that come to mind immediately, but I’m sure there are more.

It’s an interesting taxonomy.   And from our perspective a strong description of what we aim to deliver.    In healthcare in particular, the relationship between the purchasing hospital and the vendor company, as well as the between the medical staff and the vendor representative, is complex, overlapping, disjointed, and misunderstood.   And yes, Vendormate tries to provide the central view of the relationship that allows for strategic supplier management.  

If you’re interested in keeping up with the wide world of spend management, Jason’s blog is one you should keep an eye on.