Jason Busch
Going back five years, very few procurement groups could passionately support the adoption of ERP procurement and sourcing applications within their organizations. At the time, both Oracle and SAP were long on marketing and vision, but short on global-scale references for implementations, not to mention broad solution coverage (i.e., supporting the entire source-to-pay process). But flash forward a number of years, and the ERP procurement decision has become far more complicated. This Spend Matters Compass research brief provides high-level context as well as a decision framework to help companies assess when ERP or best of breed may be more appropriate for specific areas. In this analysis, we analyze SAP’s and Oracle’s capabilities in the following functional areas: spend visibility, supplier information management and e-sourcing.

Jason Busch
The ERP source-to-pay landscape has spent the last decade transforming itself from a blank canvas to a partially complete montage, with varying degrees of elegance and execution. Despite the fact that both Oracle and SAP have greatly evolved their solution sets in this time, both acknowledge that gaps remain (e.g., supplier enablement and invoice automation) through their actions to engage preferred partners. Yet it’s now possible to take an approach to procurement and supply management systems that standardize on ERP vendor platforms by filling in the gaps along the way, rather than putting best-of-breed as the front and center component of a procure-to-pay (P2P) architecture (which also remains an option, for those who want the most innovative capabilities). This analysis examines distinct areas where third-party solution providers (both ERP partners and non-partners) can help round out ERP capabilities including: supplier onboarding, catalog and master data management (MDM) and invoice automation/connectivity.

Jason Busch
When it comes to ERP procurement applications from SAP, Oracle and PeopleSoft, far too many organizations don’t think about continuous investment outside of periodic upgrade cycles. Yet by investing incrementally over time in a number of essential areas to get more from existing and planned investments, companies can create a magnifier effect on the returns their ERP P2P applications will provide. And more often than not, the true incremental capital outlay is minimal (and in some cases non-existent) provided procurement and IT organizations put their heads together and plan accordingly.

This Spend Matters Compass analysis focuses on two key areas where continuous and thoughtful investment matter, not to mention where the latest (i.e., 2H2011 and 2012) capabilities from third-parties can play an essential role in driving a multiplier effect on the initial investment. In each of these areas, we provide multiple elements and recommendations. These include core summary explanations and recommendations, select tips and tactics in each area that go beyond the headlines and suggested technologies/partners for consideration, many of which are closely linked into the ERP ecosystem already (i.e., BPO and partner relationships) for each of the following suggestions:

1. Consider “Re-Skinning” the Interface for Core Buying Activities.
2. Controlling the Shopping Experiences and Managing Diverse Catalog and Supplier