Ever been at a restaurant and found yourself not really starving but not exactly full? You could probably eat a portion of an entrée, but that’s all. You know everything else on the plate will be wasted. If the restaurant doesn’t serve items a la carte, you’ll be paying more and bringing home a doggie bag.

Since the recession started, I’m seeing the same thing in purchasing and AP. The economy is forcing many companies to implement major software implementations and upgrades step-by-step, over an extended period of time. Unfortunately, many are finding that solution providers only serve the whole enchilada.

Many large software providers sell their systems as packages. If you want a module for procurement, for example, you get (and pay for) three additional modules as well. As a result, customers are sold features, functionality and modules that they don’t need. And this economy, no business can afford to leave food on the plate.

That’s why purchasing and AP departments are demanding a la carte solutions. They want the freedom to implement just one element, like eProcurement, eInvoicing, workflow or expense reporting. Not only is it more cost effective, but organizations can plan more strategically and execute more effectively. Organizations I talk to also want the flexibility to quickly and easily activate additional modules down the road – when it makes sense for them.

So if you’re looking at a software menu, make sure that the provider offers its items a la carte – because there’s a lot more at stake then a side of mashed potatoes.

As the nation’s retailers gear up for holiday season, many are mapping out their online strategy. And for good reason: each year, more people are avoiding the crowds, lines and headaches associated with holiday shopping and headline online.

 But what about an online strategy for retailers’ not-for-resale (NFR) spend? Instead of buying what you need to run your stores manually via phone, fax and email, some retailers have started to purchase everything online. Taking a cue from consumers, there’s a new wave of retailers that are using online shopping in a whole new way – and reaping huge benefits as a result.

 Retailers like GNC, Macy’s, Price Chopper, REI and other are using automated procurement applications to give their employees online access to vendor catalogs that have negotiated terms built in. Users simply log in, load up their shopping cart and checkout in just a few clicks. It’s no different than buying a book on Amazon.com.

 With indirect purchasing captured in one central database, off-contract spending is almost eliminated. Some retailers even use the system to send selected vendors as a way to drive down costs even more.

 When users complete their orders, the requisitions are then routed automatically for approval via email and their contents can be accepted or rejected by line item from any company computer or smart phone. Approval time is trimmed from weeks to days.

 When you look at the simplicity and efficiency of procurement automation, you wonder why retailers haven’t been doing this for years. So this holiday season, take a closer look at procurement automation for retailers. It may just end up on your shopping list!

Robert Cherrington
Retail Sales Director
Verian Technologies
704.602-3377
rcherrington@verian.com

You’ve heard sales pitches from software vendors about the tremendous efficiencies their product will provide your purchasing or AP department.  You buy the software, and sure enough, you become more efficient in a particular area.

However, that efficiency comes with a cost that wasn’t mentioned in the brochure: hidden headcount surprises. Some software is so hard to maintain, you need to hire several IT administrators just to keep it up and running.

 Before you implement new purchasing of invoice automation software, here’s a few things to check.

•  Ensure the system has one common interface that simple, intuitive and “self-discoverable.” The less buttons and tabs the better.
• Make sure the system doesn’t require a dedicated system administrator — the database should be designed so you can “set it and forget it.”
• Demand single sign-on. The last thing your IT department wants is 50 people calling every morning to reset yet another password.
• Make sure the system is flexible enough to provide all the features and functionality you need. Some generic purchasing and invoice automation modules from ERP systems come as a “one-size-fits-most” package. Users should only need a Web browser for access — especially if you have users across multiple locations.

Jay Wick
Verian Technologies
jwick@verian.com

If you need a pair of shoes repaired, be prepared to wait. As the Great Recession continues, people are finding more ways to save money. We’re staying in our houses longer, driving our cars longer, and apparently wearing our shoes longer.

According to the USA TODAY, “Cobblers at the nation’s roughly 7,000 repair shops — down from more than 100,000 in the 1930s — are thriving, bordering on overwhelmed.”

Certainly a $15 fix is much cheaper than a new pair of $100 shoes. What once were considered throw-away items, shoes are now looked at as investment worth preserving.

So what does all this have to do with AP? More than you might think, actually. The AP departments I talk to are overloaded, understaffed and inefficient. The easy answer is more headcount, but, like a new pair of shoes, it is just not economically feasible in today’s economy.

Like the savvy shoe owner, AP departments are looking for new ways to maximize the resources they have. Some are reexamining long-standing policies and procedures that have slowly become anchors. Others are asking their vendors to take on more of the burden of invoicing. And some are looking to reduce the stifling amount of paper that comes in the door every day.

As economists see no end in sight to the Great Recession, forward-thinking AP departments will find ways to maximize the resources they have. When the recession does finally subside and a true recovery is at hand, it is those AP departments who will be in the best shoes of all.

Kevin Zirkle
Verian Technologies
704.971.6990
kzirkle@verian.com

When organizations look to implement a new purchase-to-pay system – or any software system for that matter – many overlook the value of getting people to actually use the system. If they resist, your new software is worthless, and you’ll never see a return on the investment in the software — much less the many benefits of a streamlined purchase-to-pay process. Gaining user acceptance is never easy and the effort to achieve it is usually underestimated.

The following list was gathered from organizations that are experiencing high levels of user acceptance of their new software systems.

1. Be thorough in system selection
Make sure you develop a solid set of business requirements, and select the system that best supports attainment of those requirements. Functionality gaps or needless features will turn users against the system.

2. Allocate enough people, the right people and set a realistic timeframe
For a purchase-to-pay project, you’ll need representation from purchasing, accounts payable, your controller or someone else from finance, as well as someone from IT to provide some technical help.

3. Conduct an internal marketing campaign
Here’s your chance to get let the creative juices flow and develop some buzz around the project! It is vital that the user community know about the new system and how procedures will change.  People naturally need to acclimatize themselves to the idea of change way before it becomes a reality.

4. Train and document
You may want your software vendor to provide all of the training, or you may want to take a “train-the-trainer” approach, where you have one or more staff members trained by the vendor who are then responsible for conducting organization-wide training.

5. Focus on personal value
Identifying and promoting the personal benefits of usage will help users understand and embrace using the system. For example, showing users how selecting items from an online catalog to complete an electronic requisition is much faster than flipping through the pages of a printed catalog.

6. Offer incentives for meeting goals
You should also consider offering rewards for meeting milestones associated with the project’s success, such as crossing the threshold of having more than 50% of organizational spend running through the system.

7. Develop strong policy
You can persuade and reward all you want, but you have to enforce with policies that have “teeth.” Once word gets out within the company that you are serious about purchase-to-pay policy compliance, people will adhere to the policy quickly and consistently.

8. Communicate, communicate, communicate
Even if your policy is well designed and enforced, you don’t want people to learn about it the hard way. As you run your marketing campaign to promote use of the new system, remind employees of spending policies and let them know very directly that it will be enforced.

9. Assign a strong project leader
You need someone who is not shy about holding the people on the team accountable for getting stuff done and not shy about having the tough conversations with company executives if you experience a rebellious group who refuse to adopt the system.

10. Foster strong executive sponsorship
Your purchase-to-pay project should have an executive-level sponsor. Typically, the CIO or the CFO serves in this capacity for purchase-to-pay projects. A competent executive sponsor will help the project gain steam and credibility with the rest of the company by serving as a strong advocate for use of the system.

Jay Wick
Verian Technologies

The latest issue of the Oil & Gas Financial Journal offers some interesting insight into the near future of oil and gas spending. According to the magazine, which cites the HIS Herold 2010 Global Upstream Capital Spending Report, spending on exploration and production, excluding acquisitions, “is expected to rise 8% to $353 billion in 2010 among more than 110 of the largest publicly traded oil and gas companies.”

Although this is good news – and a vast improvement over last year’s 22% decline – the picture is far from rosy. The Deepwater Horizon disaster has put everything into question and oil and gas companies are bracing for an impending wave of new regulations and taxes. The article goes on to say that increased safety and regulatory guidelines will undoubtedly lead to higher operating costs.

These increases are expected to occur gradually, over an extended period of time. That means the time to develop your containment strategy is now. Oil & gas companies that start cutting costs now will have the flexibility and capital reserves to grow in an uncertain future.

It’s been said that good businesses only focus on the things they can change. In today’s oil & gas, it seems there’s more and more things that are simply out of our control. From the price of oil and consumer demand to government regulations and environmental disasters, oil and gas companies are at the mercy of many moving targets.

One of the few dials left that we do have control over is cost containment. How much unmanaged money is going out your door every day? How much inventory sitting unused in dusty warehouses across the country? How many budgets get overrun from poor planning and a lack of accountability? How many of your contracts are actually being honored by vendors?

Nobody was asking these questions when oil was over $150 a barrel. But now, oil & gas companies are finding out that it’s cut or die. But if we start getting answers to these questions now, we’ll be ready for the future, regardless of the climate.

Kevin Zirkle
Verian Technologies
kzirkle@verian.com

If the desktop business computer isn’t dead yet, it is definitely on its last legs. Once the epicenter for all our business needs, the desktop computer is now relegated to a dusty portal into internal company systems and applications. Pretty soon, the desktop’s only role will be as a place to hold coffee cups and sticky notes.

More business is being done on mobile devices than ever before. Not only can we send and receive emails, generate and review documents, synch calendars and host conference calls while away from the office, a new breed of software is bringing new mobility to complex business applications.

Cloud or SaaS (software as a service) solutions, among others, have removed the barriers that once stood in the way of creating truly mobile business applications. No longer do employees need to be chained to a networked desktop computer to create expense reports, procure items, process approvals or have access to budget reports and other key business metrics.

Paving the way is rapidly-evolving mobile device technology. After decades of ever-shrinking cell phones, the needs of consumers and businesses dramatically boosted the capabilities, functionality and size of mobile devices. If the latest iPad, iPhone and Droid products are any indication of the future, mobile devices will continue to get bigger – and more capable.

So what does that mean for the average business? It means paying for less office space. It means a happier, more productive workforce that can work flexible hours and spend more time with family. It means getting things done faster and more efficiently. It means real-time sharing of critical business information.

Put simply, a mobile workforce can react, deliver and grow faster. Ten years from now, we’ll look back at the desktop computer as an anchor that held us back. But there’s no reason to mourn – the death of the desktop will breathe new life into a truly mobile workforce.

Jay Wick
Regional Sales Manager
Verian Technologies
704.972.4946
jwick@verian.com

I was reading through the June issue of Integrated Solutions for Retailers and came across an interesting article titled, “In Business, Everyone is all about Efficient Spend, Right?” Written by Tom Webster, the article talks about how retailers can save big by improving IT sourcing/spend. Webster says, “The IT spend is a profit-improvement gold mine. The learned best practices suggest you can drive out costs 20%, 30%, 40% or more.” He goes on to explain that the majority of the savings comes from increased competition between suppliers.

There’s no doubt that Webster is right about IT spend in the retail industry. In fact, one of America’s oldest and largest department store chains uses automation solutions to conduct all of its IT spend.

Webster goes on to say that “the most challenging aspect will be getting your IT people to modify ‘the way it’s always been done.’” A very salient point, for sure. IT already works under a shroud of mystery because most people within an organization aren’t really sure how all of it works. As long as email is working, the Internet is up and there’s a dial tone, we tend to give IT what they want.

Companies are slowly but surely changing the culture within IT to improve sourcing and reduce spend. The numbers are too great to ignore.

But why stop there? Other large retailers are using intelligent purchasing automation solutions beyond IT to save on big-ticket indirect goods including cash registers, POS systems and security equipment.

As the recession continues unabated, retailers will continue to look for ways to reduce spend and increase profits. Are there savings to mine in your IT spend? Although IT may not hold all the answers to reducing costs, it may be a great place to start.

Robert Cherrington
Retail Director
Verian Technologies
704.602-3377
rcherrington@verian.com

Hats (and helmets) off to Verian client and outdoor outfitter REI (Recreational Equipment, Inc.) for recently placing #14 among the “100 Best Companies to Work For” by FORTUNE magazine. It was the thirteenth straight year that REI appeared on the list, which started in 1998.

“Every day, our employees come to work and share their unwavering love of the outdoors and help others experience the wonders of nature,” said Sally Jewell, REI president and CEO. “And that is what makes REI a great place to work and what has earned us this prestigious honor, year after year.”

REI grew from a group of 23 climbing friends to the nation’s largest consumer cooperative with more than three million active members. A Verian customer since 2005, REI utilizes both Purchase Manager™ and Invoice Manager™ modules.