Getting fuzzy on spend management

CALIFORNIA, USA: According to Debbie Wilson, Research Director, Gartner, “The idea of applying the fuzzy matching capabilities of spending analysis to analyze transaction data for the purpose of robust contract compliance analytics is intriguing and promising.”

This comment comes on the heels of Spend Management solution provider Zycus Inc's.announcement on Zycus’ iContract, a contract management solution designed for sourcing and procurement professionals.

As the company states, this iContract provides organizations the ability to actualize negotiated contract savings through real-time monitoring, proactive alerting, and robust search capabilities that provide intelligent tracking of contract compliance and utilization across the contract lifecycle.

“As the global recession continues to challenge top-line revenue growth, procurement leaders are being called upon to defend their enterprise’s bottom line,” says Andrew Bartolini, Vice President of Global Supply Management Research at Aberdeen Group. “Aberdeen research has shown that enterprises save, on average, 22 percent of every dollar of spend that is contract compliant. Nevertheless, as many organizations are facing immense pressures to reduce costs and maximize savings, they are especially challenged to effectively manage contract compliance and utilization. This is because they lack a centralized search able data repository and standardized, user-defined repeatable processes that hinder their ability to achieve these objectives."

"Connecting the dots between the cost and availability of products and services on the income statement with potential balance-sheet liabilities facilitates contract visibility and collaboration across the enterprise and its ecosystem," says Mickey North Rizza in the May 2008 AMR Research report, Preserve, Protect, and Defend with Contract Lifecycle Management.