Category Archives: Technology / SaaS
At month end, many families struggle with too many bills and not enough cash. What to do? Financial planners suggest that families start a log of all expenses so that at the end of the month they can see where the cash went. Families that do that find opportunities to cut back. “I didn’t realize I spent that much at Starbucks” is a typical revelation. Businesses face the same situation; cash seems to disappear: Financial statements show expense categories, but … More
Greg Henkin Managing, Partner iXchange, has more than 30 years of experience in the insurance industry. He has held senior management positions in several major insurance brokerages, owned his own brokerage and risk management consulting firms, and now owns and operates the iXchange. In his experience, reverse auctions in the insurance space are most successful when the sourcing event follows these six steps: Establish goals and parameters. Agree on the timing and date of the auction. In addition, you should … More
Over the last several years, health care providers such as physician offices, clinics and hospitals have seen a dramatic increase in costs to run their facilities. The new HIPA regulations and the much anticipated “Obamacare” will continue to raise costs in the coming years while reducing reimbursement payments for services rendered. These changes will make it even more critical to find ways to reduce costs and maintain a high quality of service to patients. A Practice Management and Healthcare Billing … More
Many companies these days are providing free services and technology to different markets. This is not a new trend. Over a decade ago, I got my first free, Web-based e-mail account. It was a Hotmail account and, in fact, I still have it today. Free storage, free tools, free address book, etc. – it’s pretty cool. Today, you can find dozens of free, Web-based e-mail solutions, each having its own hook but all looking pretty much the same. The one … More
The use of reverse auctions has significantly reduced the costs of many commodities that corporations purchase. The “art” of spend management and Group Purchasing Organizations (GPO’s) using reverse auctions is becoming common among private equity firms. The principal focus of spend management is on goods and commodities. The successful application of reverse auctions to such corporate service “spend” categories as legal, accounting and insurance is relatively limited. A few large corporations have experimented with the use of reverse auctions for … More
Cast a Wider Net Using World Class Bid Gathering and Bid Analysis Tools Optimization is the process of collecting and evaluating supplier proposals to arrive at the best possible sourcing solution that meets all the buyer’s needs. This process reaches out to current and prospective suppliers encouraging all to be creative and innovative. Optimization uses state-of-the art computer based tools that give suppliers an online platform for submitting proposals in a “non-auction” environment and enabling buyers to thoroughly evaluate hundreds … More
In the modern, data-centric world we live in, dashboards are all the rage. In fact, a dashboard is one of the most powerful tools that business-intelligence software can bring to users. The accessibility and user-friendly data offered by well-designed dashboards can increase transparency into key projects and improve resource tracking, to name only a couple advantages. As BI software continues to evolve, three key characteristics have emerged as best practices for developing successful dashboards: • Simple, but meaningful: The data should … More
Last week, Seth Balsam, Director of Global IT Sourcing at Ciena, contributed to Iasta’s Webcast, Using Spend Analysis to Smooth the M&A Path: 4 Steps to Consolidate Your Purchasing Power. When Ciena acquired Nortel’s Metro Ethernet Networks, Ciena literally doubled its size overnight: twice the revenue, twice the customers, and twice the employees. All those doubles don’t come for free. Even though spend data doesn’t get a lot of headlines in M&A news, the merger also resulted in twice the … More
During the first half of 2011, more than 4,100 merger and acquisition (M&A) transactions took place, according to a recent article on Open Forum. These transactions were valued at more than $620 billion. In the second quarter of the year alone, more than 2,000 M&As were successfully completed, with a transaction value exceeding $260 billion. You don’t see only big companies participating in M&As, either. According to the article, “People are attracted to larger numbers and that’s why those deals … More
The next generation of strategic sourcing solutions has enhanced greatly over the past few years, allowing purchasing teams to become more strategic within their company. By following best practices to drive user adoption of these tools, these teams are quickly gaining traction and increasing their sourcing credibility. Jason Treida, Chief Operating Officer of Iasta, will participate on a panel discussion about this topic at the 2011 Finance Transformation Conference in Dallas, Texas on September 22. The panel is titled, “Expanding … More
As my colleague Bobby Neil and I wrote earlier this year, if you’re looking to buy Software as a Service (SaaS), it takes diligence. It’s important to understand whether you’re buying a true SaaS solution or simply a repackaged, “on-demand” version of the software. The same can be said for Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS). A true IaaS service can, at times, be difficult to discern from a more traditional managed service. Unfortunately, many vendors continue to market and sell … More
Much is made of the importance of Cloud Computing, the endless options for what can be sourced to the Cloud, and the vast dollars that can be saved by moving services to the Cloud. But very little is said about what consideration should be given to specific financial structures and terms of a Cloud-based services agreement. Here are the TPI Top 5 financial considerations not to be overlooked when making Cloud-related decisions: 1. Current contractual agreements should include commercial terms … More
Implementing a multi-provider sourcing strategy across multiple countries requires tight coordination between business units, finance, legal and internal contract management. Success depends on an appropriate commercial structure, well-managed multiple-provider service delivery, smooth invoicing and allocation processes, and optimal service levels. Note these TPI Top 5 questions and their answers, which will be unique to your organization, when considering a multi-provider, multi-country sourcing strategy: 1. How do we create a suitable commercial structure? Cross-border taxes and cross-subsidization are key factors in determining … More
Everyone in procurement knows that spend analysis is important. The problem is they also know that it’s hard. It means getting a lot of data that may come from multiple sources, determining a hierarchical classification system, and classifying each piece of data (usually each financial transaction). You’re also going to need software tools to compile the data in meaningful ways so that you can see spending patterns and identify opportunities for savings. It’s not about getting the data one time; … More
Image this scenario. After some debate, a company finally decides to implement an eSourcing initiative and technology. The relevant software gets acquired and SME consultants are duly engaged. A short time later, there is a large eSourcing kick-off meeting with lots of fanfare and positive noise. Everyone is gung-ho and all seemed to be going well. Yet, six months later enthusiasm within the company has considerably diminished and eSourcing usage and popularity has dramatically decreased. Ultimately, management begins thinking of … More
