The High Cost of Supplier Data Quality — Webinar: Why Spend Analysis Does Not Fix the Problem

Much has been written about the cost of poor supplier data and analyzing spend to drive sourcing strategies. But the topic of dirty supplier data -- not to mention inadequate access -- in managing supplier information outside of spend analysis or sourcing is a topic that's perhaps more important, but often overlooked. Today, the typical large or middle market enterprise is losing millions of dollars in potential savings because of dirty supplier data in areas that have nothing to do with sourcing. Here at Spend Matters, we believe it's high time to take out the broom and some Lysol and show organizations how to not only create clear supplier records on a one-time basis, but how to maintain high levels of quality supplier data overtime. We plan to address these topics directly on a free webinar tomorrow titled: Exploring the Dirty Secrets of Dirty Supplier Data -- Adding Up the Costs for Finance and Procurement. Please join us on Tuesday, June 28th, from 1:00-2:00 PM CT as we explore this topic in detail -- click the above link to register.

We'll plan to leave everyone who attends the webinar with not only a basic understanding of the challenge, but also how to build a business case (based on hard dollar savings) to target the area head on. Specifically, we plan to cover:

1. Explore both hard and soft costs of poor supplier data quality when it comes to compliance, business risk and finance/procurement operational efficiency
2. Identify areas where poor supplier data is most commonly found
3. Showcase what typical supplier data environments look like before and after cleansing and maintenance efforts
4. Present the value of introducing supplier information management capabilities to insure ongoing data accuracy

One of our fundamental premises in the webinar is that information grows stale quickly. This is the heart of the supplier data quality challenge (and incidentally, while pursuing one-time efforts is all but a waste of time in the spending and payment scheme of things). As data ages, the short half-life of supplier data become abundantly clear. Whether it's line or SKU level data coming out of a payables systems or supplier-provided invoice data in the context of a spend analysis project or vendor information (e.g., contact, banking, payment details) and additional A/P and supplier-provided datasets (e.g., credits) as part of an audit recovery effort, data gets old fast -- and will be all but useless in a matter of quarters from the time it is corrected and actively managed on a one-time basis.

If you're looking for an area where you can likely save (and implement) millions of dollars of potential first-year procurement and finance savings in an area outside of sourcing and P2P, join us tomorrow (along with webinar sponsor Lavante) for: Exploring the Dirty Secrets of Dirty Supplier Data -- Adding Up the Costs for Finance and Procurement.

Jason Busch