Advanced, one of the UK’s largest software and services providers has today announced the creation of its new Spend Management business category by adding two new products, designed to drive effective supplier and contract management that can ultimately help organisations make the most of their procurement budgets and achieve their Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) goals. This follows the company’s recent acquisitions of Portt, the fastest growing provider of SaaS procurement, contract and supplier management solutions in Australia and New Zealand (ANZ) and CloudTrade, a global data capture and document automation solution.
With the disclosure of climate-related financial information for over 1,300 of the largest UK-registered companies becoming mandatory from 6 April 2022, businesses are now not only being encouraged to set climate targets but are legally required to do so, in the targets they set, the contracts they write, and the relationships they manage. Far from adding another layer of cost, implementing environmentally-friendly, ethical and socially acceptable changes can make sound business sense, reducing spend and waste to increase overall profitability.
Supplier and Contract Management functions include activities that are deeply entrenched in strategy, regulations and standards that are intended to protect all parties while encouraging best practice. The inclusion of ESG metrics alongside financial reporting raises the bar on transparency and traceability in the supply chain, helping businesses better manage their ESG risks and meet increasing customer demand for more sustainable products and services.
This announcement from Advanced marks an evolution in Advanced’s Spend Management offering, bolstering its overall composable ERP suite that comprises Finance, Spend and People Management solutions, delivered through its recently launched unified Cloud application platform, MyWorkplace. These solutions each contribute to greater efficiency and business sustainability, something that is increasingly critical as the UK faces another possible recession.
The new products, Advanced Supplier Management and Advanced Contract Management will drive business efficiencies in supplier management and contract control, creating a market-leading solution that seamlessly enables organisations to work towards ESG goals, reducing spend and environmental impact, while increasing ROI.
Chris Holmes, VP of Spend Management at Advanced says of the launch “Businesses are facing increasingly challenging trading conditions with the sky-rocketing cost of doing business now. Added to that, political uncertainty and ever-shorter change cycles require increased agility in managing suppliers and contracts to ensure their supply base is set at the right cost, delivering the right quality and offering best value. “Strong collaboration with your suppliers is therefore key to driving business value and achieving ESG goals. “By automating workflows, less time is wasted on tactical processes and more time can be devoted to strategic goals and value creation. At Advanced we believe in the ability of innovation to drive value for the customer. With this new category we can offer our clients best-of-breed financial and spend management software, combined with world class procurement technology, delivering a force multiplier to customers that includes improving ESG attainment.”
Advanced Supplier Management is a stand-alone performance, relationship and risk management software enabling teams to make faster, more informed and more strategic decisions.
