The contract lifecycle management company Agiloft today released an add-on module for companies to manage sourcing and supplier information, with the goal of reducing sourcing cycle time, automating supplier onboarding, and monitoring ongoing compliance.
Andy Wishart, Agiloft’s chief product officer, told me that this is the first of multiple add-on modules that the company plans to develop for its platform, with another to be released later this year.
“We are trying to help our customers extend the value of their CLM software by focusing on the buy-side process, and on the sourcing events that run up to the creation of the contract,” Wishart said.
The Sourcing and Supplier Information Management module adds a set of tools to the Agiloft CLM platform that are designed to address three overarching functions:
- Streamline the source-to-contract process by centralizing the creation, approval, collaboration, and decision making for RFPs and other sourcing workflows.
- Automate management of supplier information to save time and ensure suppliers meet all requirements.
- Provide a unified hub for all source-to-contract information to enable companies to quickly identify existing suppliers and provide a unified sourcing and contracting workflow.
Within the module, a company can create standardized templates with pre-approved language for RFIs, RFPs and RFQs (or RFx generically), as well as custom supplier questionnaires and templates.
The module enables suppliers to register and submit responses directly through a vendor portal, where they can also collaborate with the company around the submission. Once all the responses are submitted, internal stakeholders can review, compare and score them through the module.
Because the module sits on the CLM platform, once the company makes an award, it can create the contract with just a few clicks, using approved terms and conditions. Any give-and-take that occurred over contract terms during the RFx process can also be incorporated.
The module also automates notifications, both to outside suppliers and to internal stakeholders, helping to ensure that the process stays on schedule and that all required documentation is submitted.
The module serves as a unified hub for overseeing all in-process and existing relationships with suppliers of goods, services and commodities and can provide alerts for upcoming expirations.
Because the module sits on the Agiloft platform, users get access to all the same data visualization, navigation and other features in a unified experience, Wishart said.
For anyone interested in learning more about this new module, Agiloft is presenting a release webinar today at 2 E.T. You can register here.
