[Whitepaper] 5 Vendor Management Challenges Faced by Purchasing Professionals

As a purchasing professional you’re no stranger to the challenges that come with managing vendors online. Some of the more common difficulties include working with outdated or missing vendor information; chasing down paperwork from vendors; finding local or specialized vendors; complications in reporting on small business and minority vendors; and working with few bidders and higher costs.

Wondering what can be done to eliminate these challenges and move your organization to realize operational improvements? Enter Software-as-a-Service (SaaS). SaaS facilitates more efficient vendor management processes by:

• Placing the onus of information and documentation updates on the vendor;
• Facilitating vendor registration and compliance, which in turn encourages more businesses to participate in the (now more competitive) bidding process;
• Streamlining the vendor registration process – vendors can self-register and upload appropriate documentation into one, consolidated, indexable database;
• Making report creation more timely, efficient, and shareable with appropriate stakeholders within or outside of purchasing;
• Ensuring the integrity of RFP process with auditable and trackable records.

Now that you know a vendor management solution is the way to go, how do you select one?

With a variety of vendor management platforms from which to choose, you’ll want to consider the following about the system:

• Is it built specifically for local governments?
• Is it created with information security in mind?
• Is it user-friendly for both government staff and vendors?
• Is it a common vendor database shared among peer    governments?
• Is it available in a free version?
• Can it be implemented effortlessly?
• Does it offer proactive and responsive support for both the government and its vendors?
• Does its menu of features include a la carte options?

Ultimately, vendor management challenges can be mitigated with the right solution: the right vendor management platform.