For Business Process & Applications Professionals

To Invest Wisely, Know The Business Value Of Diverse CRM Solutions

by William Band, September 30, 2009

To help customer relationship management (CRM) professionals make smart decisions and navigate the complex CRM technology landscape, Forrester surveyed 286 companies. The goal was to determine the business value-add adjusted for uncertainty of 19 types . . .

For Sourcing & Vendor Management Professionals

Enterprises Should Push Supplier Networks To Deliver Interoperability

The Plethora Of Discrete Networks Detracts From ePurchasing's Value

by Duncan Jones, July 30, 2009

Enterprises use supplier networks to trade electronically with their suppliers, but they find that insufficient cooperation between rivals limits potential progress. Chief purchasing officers (CPOs) and their ePurchasing program managers struggle to get . . .

For Sourcing & Vendor Management Professionals

TechRadar™ For Sourcing & Vendor Management Professionals: ePurchasing, Q3 2009

Services Procurement And EIPP Are Hottest, Supplier Performance And Automated Spend Analysis Show Promise, But Supplier Portals Start To Decline

by Patrick M. Connaughton, Duncan Jones, July 22, 2009

Forrester has used its TechRadar™ on the various subcategories of ePurchasing software to identify which offer the most reliable and fastest-growing sources of business value. We found that eProcurement and eSourcing give the best ROI, with electronic . . .

For Sourcing & Vendor Management Professionals

Supplier Performance And Risk Are Top Of Mind — Can Software Solutions Help?

by Patrick M. Connaughton, July 14, 2009

In the current economic conditions, it's no surprise that supplier performance management (SPM) is the fastest-growing category of ePurchasing software. Companies desperately need a way to pinpoint their underperforming and risky suppliers and take appropriate . . .

For Business Process & Applications Professionals

TechRadar™ For BP&A Professionals: The Extended CRM Application Ecosystem, Q3 2009

Social Applications Stimulate Innovation But Sales, Order Management, And Service Hold The Keys To Your Revenue Engine

by William Band, July 9, 2009

Locking in customer loyalty through deeper engagement and differentiated experiences will continue to be critical priorities for organizations in all sectors in the decade ahead, but navigating the complex customer relationship management (CRM) technology . . .

For Vendor Strategy Professionals

Market Momentum: Business Application Software, H2 2008

Software Supermajors Set The Trend For Integrated Solutions

by Holger Kisker, Ph.D., July 7, 2009

Various prominent mergers and acquisitions (M&A) in early 2008 significantly changed the face of the business application software market, leading to the rise of the software supermajors. In the second half of 2008, vendor activities focused on product . . .

For Sourcing & Vendor Management Professionals

Selecting Vendor Management Systems: Differentiating Criteria

by Patrick M. Connaughton, April 14, 2009

Companies looking for a new vendor management system (VMS) have a wide variety of software solutions to choose from that on the surface appear to have very similar functionality. With so much commonality across the leading solutions, sourcing and vendor . . .

For Sourcing & Vendor Management Professionals

Forrester's Rapid Decision Tool For VMS RFPs  (183 KB XLS)

by Patrick M. Connaughton, April 14, 2009

Rapid decision tool using the criteria outlined in the report, "Selecting Vendor Management Systems: Differentiating Criteria"

For Vendor Strategy Professionals

Predictions 2009: ePurchasing Market

Growth Slows Both Overall And For eProcurement But Is Strong In Other Areas

by Andrew Bartels, March 26, 2009

The ePurchasing market — software solutions for eProcurement, eSourcing, contract life-cycle management (CLM), automated spend analysis, accounts payable electronic invoice presentment and payment (AP-EIPP), services procurement, supplier performance . . .

For Sourcing & Vendor Management Professionals

The Forrester Wave™: eSourcing, Q1 2009

Ariba, Emptoris, And Oracle E-Business Suite Are The Leading Tools For Enterprises Wanting To Improve Their Online Strategic Sourcing

by Duncan Jones, March 23, 2009

In Forrester's 54-criteria evaluation of eSourcing vendors, we found that Ariba, Emptoris, and Oracle E-Business Suite are Leaders, due to their support for global program management and advanced sourcing techniques. Companies looking to implement online . . .

For Sourcing & Vendor Management Professionals

Simplifying Staff Augmentation With Contingent Workforce Management Solutions

by Patrick M. Connaughton, March 20, 2009

Contingent workforce management (CWM), the strategic procurement process for temporary staff, is getting a lot of attention these days. This is surprising given the tough market conditions, since in a recession, nonpermanent staff is often the first to . . .

For Sourcing & Vendor Management Professionals

Case Study: A Manufacturer Lowers Costs With Automated Spend Analysis

by Patrick M. Connaughton, January 14, 2009

Over the past five years, a successful global manufacturer increased its size tenfold through various acquisitions — good news for the company but essentially outstripping its strategic sourcing group's ability to effectively manage spend. The rapid growth . . .

For Sourcing & Vendor Management Professionals

Best Practices: Successfully Planning For And Managing Automated Spend Analysis Projects

by Patrick M. Connaughton, January 14, 2009

Forrester estimates that only 13% of the companies that have implemented eSourcing solutions have also rolled out automated spend analysis. At a time when vendor consolidation and cost cutting is paramount, why isn't there higher adoption of a tool that . . .

For Sourcing & Vendor Management Professionals

Case Study: US Specialty Retailer Improves Sourcing With Automated Spend Analysis

by Patrick M. Connaughton, January 14, 2009

Centralized strategic sourcing was just in its infancy at this large retailer and it was feeling the growing pains. Without an accurate and credible single source of spend data, it was difficult to justify many of the hard decisions required to move to . . .

For Sourcing & Vendor Management Professionals

Case Study: Maintenance Services Company Uses Supplier Self-Service To Cut AP Costs

by Duncan Jones, November 19, 2008

A $3 billion maintenance services company faced many challenges processing six million invoices per year, most from small-business subcontractors. The accounts payable (AP) director knew that full e-invoicing was impractical for this large, technology-limited . . .

For Sourcing & Vendor Management Professionals

Best Practices: Invoice-To-Pay Process Automation

by Duncan Jones, November 19, 2008

Accounts payable electronic invoice presentment and processing (AP-EIPP) applications help companies automate their invoice-to-pay (I2P) processes. Inefficient manual processing can cost $20 or more per invoice, but companies can cut this to $5 or less . . .

For Sourcing & Vendor Management Professionals

Case Study: Global Pharmaceutical Company Cuts AP Cost-Per-Invoice By Half

Ariba Helps The Company Build On Its eProcurement Foundation

by Duncan Jones, November 19, 2008

A global pharmaceutical company processes nearly two million invoices per year through a handful of shared service centers (SSCs), but was suffering with a 20-day backlog. The company was already using Ariba's eProcurement product so it decided to use . . .

For Vendor Strategy Professionals

Holistic View: The ePurchasing Software Market

Strong Growth And Dynamism Despite Maturing eProcurement And eSourcing

by Andrew Bartels, September 9, 2008

Vendors have both opportunities and challenges in the dynamic ePurchasing market, with strong double-digit growth projected for 2008 despite a slowing overall IT market. While products like eProcurement and eSourcing are widely adopted and have slower . . .

For Business Process & Applications Professionals

The Forrester Wave™: Contract Life-Cycle Management, Q3 2008

Ariba, Emptoris, SAP, Selectica, And Upside Software Are The Leaders

by Andrew Bartels, August 11, 2008

In Forrester's 110-criteria evaluation of contract life-cycle management (CLM) vendors, we found that Ariba, Emptoris, SAP, Selectica, and Upside Software led the pack because of their advanced functions for contract creation, contract repositories, analysis . . .

For Sourcing & Vendor Management Professionals

The Forrester Wave™: AP-EIPP, Q2 2008

Basware Leads For Products That Streamline The Invoice-To-Pay Process, But Other Vendors Also Have Strong Offerings

by Duncan Jones, June 18, 2008

In Forrester's 78-criteria evaluation of accounts payable electronic invoice presentment and payment (AP-EIPP) vendors, we found that Basware leads the pack, closely followed by Ariba, JPMorgan Xign, and 170 Systems. All have good invoice management capabilities . . .

For Business Process & Applications Professionals

Market Overview 2008: Automated Spend Analysis

Fast-Growing ePurchasing Product Market Delivers Insight Into Large Enterprises

by Andrew Bartels, April 16, 2008

Automated spend analysis software is an essential tool for chief purchasing officers (CPOs) at large, global, diversified enterprises, and it's a useful tool for many others. Automated spend analysis helps CPOs (and CFOs) gain insight into what their . . .

For Business Process & Applications Professionals

The EIPP Market Is Ripe For Consolidation

Demand For Applications To Streamline Buy-Side Invoice-To-Pay Processes Will Continue To Grow Rapidly

by Duncan Jones, October 22, 2007

Most invoices start life in order management applications and end up in accounts payable (AP) products, yet almost all must first become paper, processed by expensive, slow, and error-prone human beings. AP Electronic Invoice Presentment and Processing . . .

For Business Process & Applications Professionals

Services Procurement Grows Despite Obstacles

Absorbing Contingent Workforce Management Solutions

by Andrew Bartels, September 17, 2007

The services procurement market is an anomaly. In theory, it should be huge, because purchases of services represent 30% to 60% of all company spending, with a high potential for significant savings with more effective management. However, the market . . .

For Technology Product Management & Marketing Professionals

Contract Life-Cycle Management Attracts New Entrants

The CLM Market Is Dynamic, Fragmented, And Competitive

by Andrew Bartels, August 10, 2007

CIOs and their business partners are increasingly looking for contract life-cycle management (CLM) solutions for all of their businesses' contracts, even if they deploy them in stages for buy-side contracts first and later for sell-side contracts. The . . .

For Business Process & Applications Professionals

Case Study: HP Masters Procurement Risk

by Patrick M. Connaughton, August 3, 2007

Volatility of component costs, product demand, and supply availability can significantly increase procurement risks for high tech companies. Legacy supply chain software can help forecast demand and balance supply, but does not provide a holistic view . . .