The best Source to Pay software doesn’t exist

“AI is the talk of the town, and rightly so,” begins Menno, who as a lead consultant and project manager has spent more than twenty years guiding organisations through software selections and implementation programmes. “Applied well, AI doesn’t just make processes faster, it makes them more efficient too. Think of spend analyses based on up-to-date data, or smart intake processes where an internal user can easily make their needs known to procurement,” he explains. “The next step is from AI to agents: software components that take over operational tasks entirely as part of the Source to Pay solution.”

Merel, a consultant with extensive experience in innovation challenges and digital transformations, also sees AI playing an increasingly important role in Source to Pay processes. “Where organisations used to focus mainly on automating transactions, attention is now shifting to supporting decision-making by using AI to make existing data clearer and more accessible.”

In her view, this development fits a broader trend. “Data is increasingly becoming a strategic asset, and organisations want to do more than digitalise processes: they want to make them smarter and more data-driven too.”

“At the same time, you see organisations struggling with how to make effective use of information from different systems. Many organisations hold large volumes of procurement and supplier data, but find it hard to actually draw management information from it. That’s exactly where the big opportunities lie.”

The changes aren’t limited to AI. The way organisations set up their technology landscape is changing too, Menno observes. “More and more often, organisations choose not an end-to-end solution but a combination of best-of-breed applications, each supporting a specific part of the Source to Pay process. That places higher demands on integrations, data quality and governance.”

Compliance, transparency and risk management are also playing an ever greater role. “Organisations don’t just need to work more efficiently, they also need to be better able to demonstrate why they make certain choices and how they manage their suppliers,” says Merel.

“Growing legislation and regulation, on sustainability for example, is adding to the reporting burden. At the same time, it gives organisations the chance to use the data they’re already collecting to gain new insights and better underpin strategic choices.”

The familiar name isn’t always the best choice

The growing complexity of the market also brings a risk. Organisations rarely start a selection process with an open mind, and often already have an idea of possible suppliers and solutions.

They speak to a supplier at an event, know a solution from the past or hear success stories from their network. A preference often forms before the selection process has even begun. “Understandable,” says Merel, “but not always wise. Because the familiar solution isn’t automatically the best solution for an organisation.”

In practice, the final choice is still too often driven by brand awareness or past experience, even though every organisation’s context is different. A multinational faces different challenges from a mid-size organisation. An organisation with a mature procurement function has different requirements from one that is just starting its digitalisation journey.

That’s why, according to Menno, a good selection starts not with technology but with the organisation itself. “The question isn’t which supplier has the best tool. The question is which solution best fits the customer’s specific situation.”

Technology is just one piece of the puzzle

In practice, though, he sees customers often start the conversation with that one familiar question: which solution should I choose? “But technology is only one piece of the puzzle,” he stresses. “At Spendlinq, we always look at four elements: people, processes, data and technology.”

In practice, that means talking to everyone involved. Not just procurement and Accounts Payable, but also end users and IT. What do they want to achieve? How mature are the current processes? How does the organisation handle change? And perhaps the most underestimated question: is there enough internal capacity and support to make the implementation a success?

“A solution that nobody wants or is able to use ultimately remains an expensive investment,” says Menno.

Merel sees that, alongside adoption, the importance of data quality is still regularly underestimated. “Many organisations focus on functionality, while data quality and building support are at least as decisive for the final result.”

Market knowledge as the foundation for better choices

An objective assessment requires not only a structured approach, but also up-to-date market knowledge. And that’s becoming ever more challenging: new players are entering the market, existing suppliers keep expanding their functionality and acquisitions are changing the playing field at high speed. For organisations, it’s almost impossible to keep track of all these developments on their own.

According to Menno and Merel, that’s exactly why an independent view matters so much. After all, the solution that best fits an organisation isn’t always the supplier that’s most visible in the market.

“Spendlinq deliberately invests in a strong supplier network,” Merel explains. “That gives us access to knowledge and insights you can’t always find in public sources. Think of product developments, suppliers’ strategic choices and innovations that aren’t widely known yet. By spotting these developments early, we can advise customers not only on the basis of the current situation, but also on where the market is heading.”

To capture that market knowledge in a structured way and make it accessible, Spendlinq is developing its own platform: the Market Intelligence & Matching Platform SolutionLinq. Combined with our own FIT model, the platform brings together up-to-date market knowledge across every Source to Pay category, functional needs, organisational objectives and technical requirements in one structured approach to software selection and vendor evaluation.

“Whether an organisation wants to test its current landscape or select a new solution, it ultimately comes down to the same question,” Menno sums up: “Which solution best fits the organisation’s processes, ambitions and maturity? The best software doesn’t exist. But the best fit does.”

Source: Consultancy.nl