CPO Rising’s Technology Round-Up returns today with another assortment of supply management technology news and updates from the past month to share with our community. If you are a sourcing, procurement, or spend management solution provider and you have news to share with us, please drop us a note at editor at cporising dot com. Thanks, and enjoy!

Procurify Acquires VendorBase, Rebrands it as Procurify Exchange

Earlier this week, British Columbia-based Procurify, which provides an automated procure-to-pay (P2P) solution for the cloud, informed us that it has acquired VendorBase, a online B2B commerce platform that connects buyers and suppliers, and has rebranded it as Procurify Exchange (PEx). Procurify will market PEx as a free request for quote (RFQ) engine that users can access right now. Together, Procurify and PEx now give users the ability connect to suppliers, put out RFQs, conduct the full P2P lifecycle, and gain visibility into their spend.

The Smart Cube Launches Smart Risk, a Supply Chain Risk Management Tool

Late last month, the Smart Cube, a London and New Delhi-based provider of procurement services and solutions, announced the release of its own supply chain risk monitoring and management tool, Smart Risk. The tool blends machine and human intelligence to present users with actionable insight that can be used to inform sourcing and buying decisions across a wide spectrum of categories. These include compliance, country, financial, operational, and strategic risk. Smart Risk automatically monitors multiple sources of structured and unstructured data, namely media reporting, social media posts, supplier data, and supplier surveys, and uses an algorithmic sentiment analysis to score the data to produce a risk rating. It also employs predictive analytic capabilities to examine other, less obvious factors in order to: identify early risk indicators and warnings, alert business stakeholders via the cloud-based, on-demand platform, and ultimately allow them to be proactive. While Smart Risk employs machine learning and natural language processing algorithms to power the platform, its risk scores and predictions are then validated by Smart Cube analysts with deep buyer and supplier knowledge, who also provide recommendations on how to respond to risks.

Apttus Partners with Workato to Intelligently Automate Quote-to-Cash

Ardent Partners recently learned that Apttus, the California-based provider of quote-to-cash, contract, and supplier management solutions, has partnered with Workato, a California-based provider of intelligent automation solutions, in an effort to intelligently automate Apttus’s quote-to-cash solution. In a nutshell, the partnership will integrate machine learning and natural language processing algorithms developed by Workato into Apttus’s quote-to-cash solution that will enable users to leverage automated workflows and ultimately speed up the process. With a few clicks, rather than extensive coding, users can zip through the process and move onto other facets of category sourcing and supplier engagement.

IHS Markit Announces First Quarter 2018 Financial Performance Results

IHS Markit, a London-based provider of third-party market intelligence and risk management information, recently announced financial performance results for the first quarter of 2018. Company officials boasted of a strong start to the year, with financial performance driven by what they describe as organic growth. Highlights from the first quarter include:

• $932.1 million in revenue, up 10% year-over-year
• $683.3 million in fixed revenue, up 6% year-over-year
• $117.1 million in recurring revenue, up 7% year-over-ear
• $131.7 million in non-recurring revenue, up 8% year-over-year
• $359 million in adjusted EBITDA, up 12% year-over-year
• $202.9 million in cash flow from operations, down 19% year-over-year
• $147.7 million in free cash flow, down 17% year-over-year

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IHS Markit Adds Financial Screening to Vendor Due Diligence Tool

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