What comes after CRM?

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By: Wise Marketer Staff |

Posted on April 5, 2002

If the past is anything to go by, our guess is that it will be a three letter acronym, probably ending in M...

And it is! According to a new report from the Yankee Group, ESM (Enterprise Spend Management) is likely to become the next essential area of enterprise automation. The report discusses key areas that companies can address to increase control, visibility and effective management of enterprise spending. It also reveals the most common causes of inadequate spend control, and outlines the seven spend management best practices companies can utilize today in order to improve the bottom line significantly.

The report proposes that companies begin to initiate a "spend management backbone" to serve as the central support for all spend processes and associated data.. It also provides a step-by-step process on how to implement the backbone.

Managing spend is not optional
According to the report's author, Lisa Williams, Yankee Group's director, B2B Commerce & Applications, "Managing spending is not optional; deciding how intelligently you will do it is the only issue at hand." Williams adds that executives must create a culture of fiscal discipline, and then back that up with an enterprise spend management system that enables every employee to participate positively in keeping their own company competitive. This is one thing you can do to create a legacy of increasing value in the long term while providing solid and impressive results in the short term."

Ariba Suite
One company that is set to meet these needs is Ariba, which markets the Ariba Spend Management Suite. This has three areas: the Ariba Analysis Solution, the Ariba Sourcing Solution and the Ariba Procurement Solution which, when integrated, provide closed loop control and spend visibility.

Free white paper
A free copy of the Yankee Group white paper: Enterprise Spend Management:  Taking Charge of Enterprise Value is available from Ariba at: http://www.ariba.com/solutions/yankeegroup_wp.cfm

More info:

http://www.yankeegroup.com
http://www.ariba.com