Insights into the latest Expenzing Strategic Sourcing Product Release

Earlier this month, Expenzing announced the launch of its Strategic Sourcing Software Version 5. Check out the detailed Press Release here.

Expenzing offers cloud-based End-to-End Source-to-Pay solutions that enable digital transformation of procurement and A/P processes for large and mid-sized companies globally.

We caught up with Ms. Ila Imani, CEO, Expenzing, to understand the perspective behind this new product release.

Here is an excerpt from our discussion:

What made you add the Strategic Sourcing suite to your existing Procure-to-Pay solution?

Imani: Traditionally, strategic sourcing as a practice was exercised primarily in the manufacturing industry or very large service companies.

However, now a growing number of organizations are adopting professional procurement practices and are using technology for smarter spend reduction. To help them address the practical challenges of adopting global best practices in Sourcing and Procurement processes, we added the Sourcing product a couple of years ago to our Suite. We have now come up with the new release of this product. Unlike traditional difficult-to-use products in the market, this is suitable for large as well as mid-sized companies.

Why did you think this is the right time to launch the new version of the Strategic Sourcing product?

Imani: That’s a great question. The year 2020 has pushed enterprises globally to prioritize their digital initiatives. The initiatives that were just ‘nice to have’ so far, have now become a ‘must have’ for business sustenance. It’s now digitalization on steroids! The e-procurement market was always growing, but with the rush for digitalization of processes, we wanted to make 2021 the year that many more organizations could digitally transform their procurement processes, especially with an intelligent and affordable technology solution.

What are some of the highlights of this product release? 

Imani: We have carefully selected the features that we wanted to focus on in this release. Since working from home, or flexi-hours is now an accepted reality, we have given special attention to design and user experience for the procurement team as well as suppliers who are interacting remotely. We have added intelligent and power-packed features which are needed by mid-sized companies or smaller teams, who may publish small and simple Requests for Proposals using our software, or who may publish the equivalent of 50-60 page complex multi-sectional Requests for Proposals.

Some specific feature highlights are:

• An enhanced Automated Supplier Evaluation tool that makes the supplier comparison process objective and multi-dimensional
• Multi-stage RFPs which enable procurement teams to start with simpler RFIs (Request for Information), and then get into to RFQs (commercial responses), while at each stage incorporating feedback from the market place.
• Integration with multiple ERPs for procurement
• Productivity boosters like save as draft, re-use an RFP, etc.

What is the business significance of this release? How do you think your clients will benefit from this offering?

Imani: We expect this new version to be a key driver of digital transformation for our clients. We expect mid-size as well as large enterprises to move the procurement process completely online with this version, and gain a strategic advantage. The new version of Expenzing Strategic Sourcing is a good fit for all-sized companies. It is designed to help them adopt best practices in procurement transformation. Their auditors will surely be pleased to see the transparent and professional procurement process!