CPO Rising’s Technology Round-Up returns today with 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!
Solution Provider Events High on Ardent Analysts’ Agendas
It has been a whirlwind week and a half for the Ardent Partners’ analyst team, with detachments jet setting to Nashville, Tennessee for ISM’s 103rd annual conference, San Francisco for Coupa’s annual Inspire conference, and currently to Chicago for AvidXchange’s annual Revolution user conference. Digital disruption, innovation, and transformation have been featuring prominently at these events, as have their evangelists, like John Rossman (formerly of Amazon) who capped Day 3 at ISM (look for our write up soon). But we’ve also heard personal stories of revelation and rejuvenation, risk and reward from renowned celebrities, like Arianna Huffington who spoke at ISM, Arnold Schwarzenneger, who spoke at Inspire, and Molly Bloom (of Molly’s Game fame) who spoke at Revolution. Despite all the hype and hoopla about how robots, automation, and AI are about to put many of us out of work, we are discovering that humans and machines will not only coexist, but will make each other better. And that, although technology has taken some of the humanity out of social interactions, we’re learning how important it is to wrestle it back; and, perhaps poetically, that technology can help us do that, too. Stay tuned for more write ups from all three conferences.
ConnXus Partners with BuyerQuest to Launch Diverse Marketplace and eCommerce Site
Earlier this month, ConnXus announced that it has partnered with BuyerQuest to launch a beta version of what it is calling a “first of its kind” Diverse Marketplace and eCommerce site. ConnXus, which provides supplier discovery, diversity, and management systems for the cloud, and BuyerQuest, which provides eProcurement and procure-to-pay (P2P) business solutions, are both based in Ohio and have partnered on tech-based supplier diversity solutions before. They are looking for early procurement users and suppliers to participate in the beta launch, which will run through the fall of 2018. Diverse Marketplace is said to have usability at its forefront and resemble a commercial, Amazon-like digital buying experience. The tool now features suppliers of indirect goods and materials, and ConnXus and BuyerQuest are actively seeking more supplier participation, particularly from diverse suppliers.
Corcentric Announces Acquisition of Source One Management Services
Corcentric, a provider of financial process automation solutions with corporate headquarters in New Jersey, this week announced the acquisition of Source One Management Services, a procurement services provider and strategic sourcing consulting firm, with headquarters in the Philadelphia area. Source One provides sourcing-related services and technology and will complement Corcentric’s existing procure-to-pay solutions. Earlier this year, Corcentric and its parent company, AmeriQuest, announced it would be unifying the organization under the Corcentric name (read up on the strategy behind that here) to bring together the resources from both AmeriQuest and Corcentric, and to expand its access and value to its customers across the full P2P process. The acquisition of Source One falls in line with that strategy as well, and should place the company in a better position for long-term growth as Corcentric will be better able to reflect prospects’ centralized payment needs from both ends of the P2P process.
CreditRiskMonitor Announces Q1 2018 Financial Performance Results
Last week, New York-based CreditRiskMonitor, which provides procurement teams with internet-based reporting and analysis on supplier financial performance, credit, and risk, announced its own financial performance results for the first quarter of 2018. Company officials touted their commitment to new product investments, solvency, and operating cash, despite slow financial growth from year-over-year. First quarter highlights include:
- Operating revenue of $3.37 million compared to $3.24 million in Q1 2017, a 4% increase
- Net loss of $255,436, up slightly from $244,293 from Q1 2017
- Cash and cash assets are down since the end of 2017 to $8.735 million, compared to $8,719 million in Q1 2017
iSite Contract Management Portal Receives Federal Government Go-Ahead
Also last week, the MSM Group, an Ohio-based procurement professional services and IT implementation firm, announced that its iSite Contract Management Portal (iSCM) has received Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program (FedRAMP) Moderate Level authorization from the U.S. Government. In layman’s terms, this means that iSCM has passed the federal risk management process complying with 325 security control requirements and now meets federal IT security standards. MSM, through its reseller, iSite, can now offer iSCM to federal departments and agencies seeking a cloud-based contract management solution delivered “as-a-Service”. The iSite Contact Management Portal provides users with an open but secure, cloud-based contract management solution that enables them to manage workflows, run reports on business and risk analytics, cost and variance, and specific agencies, and administer multiple kinds of contracts (e.g., fixed price, cost plus, indefinite delivery-indefinite quantity, etc.).
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