Taking the lead in procurement May 10, 2007
Posted by Esa Tihilä in : Procurement , trackback
BasWare is a known world-leader in the invoice automation business. According to our vision we want to be the world-leader in the enterprise purchase to pay market, which covers both invoice automation and purchase management.
Let’s go back exactly two years. We were doing fine with invoice automation but purchase management did not fly at all. It was clearly seen that to implement Invoice Automation fully you need to have strong Purchase Management processes in place. If you manage requisitions handling the rest will follow…
In April 2005 we made the decision to take our Purchase Management (PM) business to a new level - it was an essential thing to do. We created a ‘PM Industry Program’ where we invited ten customers to series of workshops. The idea was to understand their experience of the entire procurement process, not just their business requirements, but to see the big picture. The reason we created this program was so BasWare could be in the driver’s seat of software development, developing new software based on their feedback, to take PM to a world-class level.
In autumn 2005 we took a team of eight people from different organizations around the world, who took part in a series of workshops.
The PM Industry Program was intensive and interactive. We chose demanding customers, and visionary people with strong opinions to join our program. It was a good decision even if it made the program more challenging to run, but if you want to go to the top there are ‘no compromises allowed’.
The programme was structured so that we discussed customer requirements in terms of product functionality, usability and technology. A key objective was to create a clear lists of ‘must have’, ‘needed’ and ‘nice to have’ features for PM and whole EPP portfolio.
The PM Industry Program also benefited the product development teams because it helped them to realize the difference between average and great. Before the program we had been collecting requirements from various sources, but did not always have a clear understanding of priorities, the requirements of global organizations, and the level of quality they needed. This program also changed the way BasWare approaches customer involvement.
It was an exciting project and now, one and a half years and over fifty new PM customers later, we can say it was a success. Thank you all!
BasWare’s enterprise Purchase to Pay business is on track, and thanks to the workshops our product development has enabled us to deliver products that meet customer expectations. (Sometimes it is hard to get software engineers to listen to external opinions and views :-)).
There is still a fair amount to do, but I believe we are on the right track.