No two organisations procure and pay for the goods and services they need in exactly the same way. Yet few solution providers today offer the functional depth, flexible implementation support and domain expertise needed to address the complex requirements of organisations living in change. Some solutions address broad, generic challenges with a pretty screen, but with little sophistication, depth or configurability. Others provide the bare-bones experience, meeting the minimum of functionality requirements albeit for a low cost, but with little evidence of proven results.
It is clear that there is no one-size-fits-all spend management strategy, and for organisations facing real world spend management complexities, these generic offerings fall short.
Spend management in practice varies considerably from business to business, depending on factors such as the maturity of the procurement or finance function, the fluctuating structure of the supply base and changes in business strategy that affect operational decision-making. Solution providers that hope to successfully serve these organisations must therefore be capable of adapting to constantly changing business scenarios and evolving to meet the unique needs demanded of complex spend management challenges.