Vendor Management System can make your life easier if you manage orders, invoices, contracts, delivery, and payments for your organization’s vendors. Vendor Management Software can assist you in streamlining company procedures, increasing efficiency, and lowering mistake rates using automation and real-time dashboards. Several vendor management systems offer a free demo and most have a subscription-based pricing structure.
A best Vendor Management System saves time and money. Before, these duties were managed on paper, but many businesses now use supply chain management software to automate labor-intensive processes. Depending on the business’s scale, its vendor management software must be scalable and able to integrate with existing software. This article will describe Vendor Management Systems, how they can benefit your business and the top 6 solutions.
What Is the Purpose of a Vendor Management System?
A Vendor Management System can assist many businesses in managing their external workforce more efficiently. You can save contact information for vendors, maintain track of contracts, view spending, pay vendors directly, automate vendor onboarding, and do a lot more with this end-to-end platform.
Simply put, Vendor Management Systems are the process of managing third-party vendors. This typically begins with the vetting process, which includes signing contracts and NDAs, conducting drug tests, purchasing the goods or services, working together and communicating throughout the cycle of providing the services or receiving the goods, submitting and receiving approval of timecards, and finishing with the payment process. It facilitates coordination and communication between businesses and their vendors, ensuring openness in business-vendor partnerships. Vendor Management is a practical and economical way of fusing the company’s needs with those of the vendors.
What Constitutes Effective Vendor Management?
These systems can be deployed in 3 – ways:
- In-House Management: When Vendor Management Software is implemented as an internal solution, the customer retains control over the relationship. Users can also manage resources internally thanks to it.
- Shared Management Service: Under this approach, the business works with a supplier of a Vendor Management System. As its name suggests, this results in a shared obligation between the client and the software vendor. Cost-effective and supporting of consulting best practices, this kind of implementation. Moreover, it produces neutrality and creates flexibility without totally outsourcing management. Additionally, this form of implementation enables organizations to pick the specific features they desire.
- Managed Service Provider (MSP): In this scenario, the business contracts with a software provider to handle the entire process. Users just need to manage one vendor in this deployment technique. The MSP software that provides this solution also gives analytics, enabling users to learn more about the leading vendors.
Users should be aware of the distinctions between an MSP and VMS before selecting any deployment technique.
Overseeing suppliers may be tough, thus The Best Vendor Management Software Solutions entails being able to organize your vendors and crucial information in a single source that is accessible by software users, key stakeholders, and the vendors themselves. Good Vendor Management requires the use of a Vendor Management System since it gets rid of paper files and labor-intensive manual procedures that can lead to inefficiencies.
How Does Vendor Management Help?
According to Richard B.Renckly’s Human Resources, employing a Vendor Management System can lower internal and labor expenditures by 20-30%. By addressing specifics, reducing time spent on tasks, and boosting output, VMS helps streamline company processes. Using these solutions in combination has the following benefits:
Vendor Management System provides streamlined and transparent requisition and approval processes. Users can keep a paper trail of their actions and follow it during audits.
Controls Vendors: Timelines for hiring and management are cut, and the performance of the contingent, vendor, and supplier workforce is thoroughly analyzed.
Process standardization includes the centralization and uniformity of payment methods, agreements, invoices, and billing charges. Also, users can submit forms, IDs, certifications, and resumes. Contractors are given dashboards to aid in communication.
Security: Using a VMS improves security and ensures compliance, reducing risk.
Employing Vendor Management Software can help a company improve operations in many different ways. It helps with budget management, saves time, boosts organizational efficiency, promotes visibility, and identifies overspending. Employee productivity can be increased by a competent vendor management system, which ultimately benefits a company’s bottom line.
How We Selected the Top Vendor Management Systems
A Vendor Management System might have a lot of features, but be sure to keep an eye out for these common tools:
- Audit Trail: Companies can keep track of all correspondence and logon activity books.
- Data Management: Establish and administer a centralized data repository.
- Payments: Organizations are able to send and receive payments.
- Portals: To handle data sets, vendors have access to a portal through VMS.
- Analytics: Companies can utilize analytics to monitor performance in relation to things like SLAs, supply agreements, and KPIs.
We looked at 12 Vendor Management Systems, and the top six stood out as the best choices for firms right now. When assessing suppliers, we paid close attention to the platform’s usability as well as the features provided, beginning price, integrations, and onboarding and training services.
Also, we assigned each Vendor Management System a category to highlight its greatest advantages or the kinds of businesses it is most appropriate for. In order to decide which of these companies generates the best return for actual users, we also took into account third-party customer reviews.
6 The Best Vendor Management Systems for 2023
SAP Fieldglass
In Vendor Management, SAP Fieldglass is a well-known brand. We’re naming it the greatest overall since it’s one of the most reliable and complete end-to-end solutions. SAP Fieldglass was formed in 1999 and has won numerous honors, has a presence in 180 countries and has a 99% customer retention rate.
You can manage every part of your vendor network with SAP Fieldglass, including contract administration, compliance monitoring, and performance tracking. With the platform, you may manage onboarding and offboarding procedures, track certifications, and pay vendors directly.
You can use the Digital Partner Network to locate and hire contractors and service providers with particular talents if you’re wanting to hire new vendors.
The connections of SAP Fieldglass are yet another noteworthy aspect. Oracle, Microsoft Dynamics, Salesforce, Kronos, and many other on-premises and cloud apps are compatible with the platform’s open API foundation.
The program SAP Fieldglass is not inexpensive. Price is only provided upon request, but a demo is offered without charge. Although the program is quite simple to use, you should get training to make it easier to adapt. Fortunately, SAP Fieldglass offers 24/7 customer service via phone, chat, and the online support portal.
Leading vendor management solution SAP Fieldglass has an amazing feature set, including strong connectors and cutting-edge automation capabilities.
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Pros:
– Excellent customer service and platform support
– Digital Partner Network can be used to hire new vendors
– Good list of integrations
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Cons:
– Too many features for some companies
– Subscriptions are very expensive
Genuity
Genuity offers a ton of special features for a very low fee and is made to assist IT professionals in managing their vendor relationships. One of the most affordable Vendor Management solutions is Genuity, which costs just $29.99 a month and offers unlimited users. If you want to try Genuity before you buy it, you can do so for 30 days without any risk.
IT experts founded Genuity, which has its corporate headquarters in Chicago, Illinois. Independent review sites like G2, which rated Genuity a Top Performer for Winter 2021, frequently give the business high marks.
The company offers the fundamental capabilities your IT staff will need to analyze expenditures, manage contracts, monitor your network, and establish visibility across all of your assets, however, it has less functionality than competing platforms.
We highly recommend Genuity’s Vendor Management platform for IT organizations because it was created with the help of IT and finance professionals. Along with the standard Vendor Management capabilities, there are a ton of IT-specific features available, such as the ability to automate help desk requests and control telecom costs.
Many systems, including AWS, Salesforce, G Suite, Quickbooks, Azure, and others, are integrated with the program. You can also use Genuity’s online marketplace to find new SaaS vendors and acquire reduced gear and software.
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Pros:
– Offers IT-specific tools
– One of the most affordable options
– Unlimited users for one flat fee
– Easy-to-use interface
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Cons:
– Limited features compared to other software
– Not a good option for non-IT teams
Gatekeeper
Our #1 pick for big businesses looking for vendor management software is Gatekeeper because of its unlimited user seats, quick and simple deployment, and enterprise-level security. Gatekeeper was founded in 2012 and is based in London.
Every subscription comes with an infinite number of user seats and storage. You can rapidly get up and running since Gatekeeper’s cloud-based technology is simple to deploy across a large team or department.
Whether you have 20 contracts or 200 contracts, your team can easily track every stage of the vendor lifecycle using Gatekeeper. You can automate onboarding, seek new vendors, and sign contracts electronically.
Gatekeeper automates record creation, manages SLAs, and streamlines data entry using a Kanban Workflow Engine. To save time and money for your team and remove manual processes, you can even design customized workflows.
You won’t need to enlist the help of your IT administrators to configure or install anything because the platform is entirely cloud-based. Around 220 apps have been integrated, including well-known SSO, communication, DMS, and ERP programs.
Although the software from Gatekeeper is quite simple to use, the firm also provides good training. A customer success manager is assigned to each new client who can help with implementation and onboarding.
Gatekeeper is rather pricey, especially for large businesses that require the most features and capabilities. But, by contacting the business, you can obtain a free demo. There are three paid programs that each offer an unlimited number of users:
Essentials: $875/month
Pro: $2,095/month
Enterprise: $3,725/month
Enterprise Custom: Price by quote
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Pros:
– Platform is completely cloud-based
– Integrates with more than 220 third-party platforms
– Discounts available for certain companies
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Cons:
– Enterprise-level plans can be expensive
– Plans must be paid for annually
Precoro
Precoro is a user-friendly Vendor Management System with a variety of practical features for small and medium-sized organizations.
Being one of the most affordable options available, you may still benefit from the best Vendor Management Systems even if your budget is tight. Additionally, it is highly flexible, making it simple to add or modify features as you scale.
You may manage contracts, generate performance reports, and save contact information for vendors through Precoro’s web portal. The platform also includes features for budget management and purchase request tracking.
Precoro offers thorough client service, including end-to-end support, specialized training and onboarding, dedicated customer success managers, and customized training and onboarding.
Automatic and flat-file integrations are supported by Precoro. Many platforms, such as NetSuite, Xero, and QuickBooks Online, are compatible with the product.
Precoro is an affordable choice for businesses that simply want a few user seats, and you can also obtain a 14-day free trial. There are two user-based paid programs that are both available:
Small (up to 20 users): $35 per month/per user
Enterprise (21+ users): Price by quote
In order to assist small and medium-sized enterprises in streamlining their vendor management and procurement procedures, Precoro was established in 2016. The business serves hundreds of clients in sectors like manufacturing, construction, hospitality, and healthcare.
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Pros:
– Low-cost option for companies with fewer than 20 users
– Access to lifetime product updates
– Easy to navigate and set up
– Can be used by companies in every industry
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Cons:
– Can’t pay vendors directly through the platform
– Doesn’t have a compliance management feature
Beeline
With a 100% success rate for a successful connection, Beeline’s vendor management system allows you to use Beeline along with your preferred eProcurement, security, or ERP programs.
We advise businesses searching for a vendor management system with countless integrations to use Beeline. Any on-premise or cloud-based applications you now use can integrate with Beeline, according to the business, which claims a success rate of 100% for custom integrations. Integrations simplify your overall tech stack and aid in maximizing the return on investment from your initiatives.
You can benefit from conventional Vendor Management System features like resource tracking, services procurement, contract administration, vendor compliance, insurance and licensing validation, onboarding procedures, and more when using Beeline.
Also, you can use Beeline’s Direct Sourcing service to locate, deal with, and recruit talent directly. To assist consumers in finding seasoned service providers, Beeline collaborates with TalentNet, a private talent network.
Although Beeline has many benefits, there are a few drawbacks as well. For starters, several G2 reviewers indicate that utilizing and implementing Beeline can be difficult. Setting up team training before you start is a smart idea because of this.
Keep in mind that Beeline doesn’t list its prices online. You’ll need to get in touch with the business directly to request a quote.
Since its founding in 1999, Beeline has been a pioneer in the vendor management industry. More than 300 consumers are served by the business.
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Pros:
– Expansive integrations with any platform
– Variety of tools for vendor management, procurement, staffing, etc.
– Find and hire talent directly from Beeline
– Use Beeline anytime, anywhere through the mobile app
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Cons:
– Pricing is not provided online
– Not the easiest software to set up
Onspring
Onspring offers the greatest customer service and training options to help you get the most out of the platform whether you’re implementing Vendor Management Systems for the first time or you just need some extra support.
The client experience and solutions teams at the organization provide frequent virtual training sessions, day-long boot camps, and weekly “Free Friday” workshops where you can learn about new features, best practices, and implementation methodologies.
You may organize your vendor information and contracts with the aid of Onspring’s vendor management system. You can simply check contract status, optimize the onboarding process, find vendor overlap, view trends, create personalized dashboards, and more using automation and real-time analytics.
Although Onspring’s integrations aren’t as extensive as some of the other providers we studied, there are still a few choices. You have the choice of using pre-built connections, a data connector, or the open API app to build your own integrations.
We like Onspring since it is a no-code platform, which is another reason. Without help from IT, you may create dashboards and processes using the drag-and-drop tool, as well as create an app from scratch.
The business doesn’t post any pricing information online, but you may get an estimate by getting in touch with a salesperson.
In 2010, Onspring made its debut on the market. Since then, the company has formed partnerships with over 250.000 people worldwide.
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Pros:
– Great customer service and in-depth training
– Used by big-name companies
– User-friendly drag-and-drop interface
– No-code development makes it easy to implement
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Cons:
– Functionality may be limited for some users
– No direct vendor payments
Compare Providers
There are dozens of applications on the market, but we determined the 6 systems above are the finest Vendor Management Software overall due to their rich features, superior automation capabilities, integrations, ease of use, and industry recognition. They have an all-in-one system that can handle all of your vendor management needs easily, with a low learning curve and excellent assistance along the way.
Vendor Management System may be immensely valuable for organizations of all sizes and in every industry. By implementing these tools, organizations can operate more effectively, lower the likelihood of human mistakes, and do away with manual procedures that can waste time and money.
Vendor Management Software also promotes cooperation, information exchange, and open communication between companies and their providers. As a result, a trust-based ecosystem is built, enabling partners to efficiently meet supply chain demands. Keep in mind that any software you purchase should be compatible with your current operational tools, such as accounting and supply chain management software.
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