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Unlike e-procurement and electronic invoicing, the market for supplier management technology is inherently complicated for two reasons. First, the range of use cases organizations can apply are broad, and second, the vendors serving the market are diverse, often with significantly different value propositions when compared with each other. There aredifferent ways to segment the supplier management marketand we would encourage Spend Matters subscribers to take the time to understand the advantages of using technology to support different initiatives, from accounts payable-based supplier onboarding to enabling supplier diversity programs to strategic supplier development.
One provider that began serving the market focused on strategic supplier development is State of Flux, which positions its applications division as a supplier relationship management (SRM) technology provider. Founded in 2004, State of Flux saw an opportunity from its consulting work to develop a solution focused on strategic SRM that would eventually become known as Statess. What started as a simple tool for performance and (corrective) action planning has grown into a full-fledged SRM solution that offers supplier information management (SIM), performance management, risk management, governance and relationship management, CSR (corporate social responsibility), contract compliance and innovation management.
This Spend Matters PRO vendor snapshot explores Statess’ strengths and weaknesses in the supplier management market, providing facts and expert analysis to help procurement organizations decide if they should shortlist the vendor as a potential provider. Part 1 of our analysis provides a company and detailed solution overview and a SWOT analysis, as well as a summary recommended fit suggestion for what types of organizations should consider Statess. The remaining parts of this multipart series will offer a user selection guide, user interface (UI/UX) analysis, competitive alternatives and evaluation and selection considerations.