How to Successfully Implement Your Spend Analytics Solution

Ever been caught up in a software implementation fiasco? You aren’t alone. Learn how to find and implement the right tech solution, with SpendHQ’s CTO Jason Bray.

---

The same story unfolds in so many organisations. 

First, management becomes convinced you need different software.  Second, they make a large push to implement a tool quickly to get the most value as soon as possible. 

As with so many software purchases, it can be difficult to set the path for a successful project from start to finish. With the right level of strategic planning, you can ensure buy-in for your spend analytics solution and set your deployment up for success.   

Here are the three obstacles in your way to a successful spend analytics software implementation:

1. Lack of collaboration as you select, implement, and configure the tools
2. Inadequate training leading to little user adoption
3. Poor planning for post implementation

All of these are easily preventable with the right roadmap. If you want to get your end-users on board with your spend analytics tool, you’ll need to do some planning to take you through each phase of the project.

Choosing your spend analytics platform…one that fits your needs

Believe it or not, once the decision has been made to procure spend analytics software, organisations can sometimes rush in without understanding fully what will truly be delivered. This can result in users not being able to – or having knowledge to – effectively use your new solution to its full capabilities. To avoid this common pitfall, you’ll need to evaluate your future state expectations and outline the steps you’ll need to get from approval to go-live.

Begin with the end in mind. A successful implementation starts with collaborative scoping, structuring, and requirements gathering from key team members and stakeholders.

This should draw heavily from your project management playbook. While not the most exciting part of your spend analysis journey, you’ll want to develop a formal project plan and outline your:

·   Objectives

·   Timelines

·   Team roles and responsibilities

It’s extremely important to have the right team members as part of your project team. This should include:

·   Executive sponsor

·   Project leader

·   Technical leaders

·   Stakeholder committee

Careful selection of your team and concise development of your project charter will ensure you have identified the correct parameters for the solution and can clearly translate that into strategic guidance for an RFP or software evaluation process.

Implementing your spend analytics software, steering towards success

There are several things you can do during implementation to ensure better adoption of your spend analytics platform.

Discovery workshop

Start with a discovery workshop with your selected vendor. A discovery workshop is beneficial for several reasons and can position you for ongoing achievement. You should:

·   Confirm alignment between leadership

·   Reiterate key objectives

·   Identify the tools in the spend analytics software that solve for your pain points

·   Outline any gaps in process

·   Define your category taxonomy

The importance of defining your category taxonomy cannot be emphasised enough. 

Of all the steps listed above, this is by far the most critical. If you implement your spend analytics software without fully understanding the category taxonomy, it is not likely to be effective.

A taxonomy structure that is not clearly understood by the business or tied to strategic objectives is virtually never used correctly. An experienced vendor with expert knowledge will be able to advise you on category taxonomy to avoid this pitfall.

A couple of tips for developing your taxonomy. It should:

·   Have an intuitive structure

·   Mirror the organisation of the vendor base for each category

·   Use the vernacular of your organisation

·   Separate the buyer from what is being purchased

Ongoing stakeholder touchpoints

As your spend analytics solution is being implemented, you’ll want to continue meeting regularly with your stakeholders to ensure you continue steering the project toward success. Make sure to discuss:

·   Data validation (Do we really spend that much?)

·   Classification review (Do we really have 10 vendors providing office supplies?)

·   Report configuration (What do we need to see to support our category management activities?)

·   Internal training (How should we train our team to use this tool?)

Making sure you actually use your spend analytics tool

Alright, so the hard work is done. You have your tool configured and in place. Congratulations!

Now what? If no one knows how to use your tool, all your hard work up to this point will be lost.

From here, you need to identify your use cases and define acceptance criteria. Following that, you need to train your user base to meet those outlined criteria. While it’s customary to expect training from your vendor, best-in-class organizations go beyond that to ensure that users can apply that training to specific applications.

As you move through this process, make sure to account for any gaps in training and follow up with users to promote full adoption.

Deploying a successful spend analytics solution isn’t easy work. It takes strategic planning, buy-in from strategic players, and an investment of significant time and effort. But believe us ─ you’ll be glad you put in the work.

Learn how to harness spend visibility for consolidation, control, and cost savings. Download the free e-book from the experts at Procurement Leaders.

And stay tuned for the upcoming Procurious white paper report, produced with SpendHQ!

Jason is the Chief Technology Officer at SpendHQ. He is an experienced technology and product development leader, with over 20 years of experience overseeing the technological development for leading companies such as IgnitionOne, Cardlytics Inc., and Bottomline Technologies. Jason is adept at helping organizations scale and grow to meet market demands while driving operating efficiencies within the organisation.