Afternoon Coffee: Spend Matters Launches P2P SolutionMap, Work Market Raises $25 Million

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In case you missed it, Spend Matters  launched the third part of its first SolutionMap early Tuesday. The most recent release focuses on eight procure-to-pay suite solution providers, while prior entries of Spend Matters’ Q2 2017 SolutionMap series featured e-procurement and invoice-to-pay solution providers.

Check out the free rankings and comparative graphics for P2P today, or take a deep dive into our Vendor Summary Report if you’re ready to explore the nitty gritty of the Spend Matters Analyst Team’s provider-by-provider analysis.

Work Market Teams Up With Accenture

Work Market announced Tuesday it had raised $25 million from Accenture and Foundry Group, according to the Wall Street Journal (paywall). As part of the investment, Accenture took a minority stake in the provider and plans to integrate Work Market’s capabilities into its cloud services for business management.

Beeline Assistant

Beeline announced Monday it has developed a new artificial intelligence (AI) solution to replace or augment its user interface depending on the use scenario. Beeline Assistant makes many of the resources of Beeline's vendor management system (VMS) available via instant messaging (IM) technologies (e.g., Skype, Slack, email, etc.) and via voice interaction through interfaces like Apple's Siri.

Stay tuned for more analysis on this development from our lead contingent workforce and services analyst, Andrew Karpie.

Potato Shortage

And finally, an agricultural commodities update: Japan will have to import more potatoes for chip-making purposes due a weather-related shortage, Capital Press reports. As a result, U.S. potato exports to Japan will increase by 20%, to 35,000 metric tons in the current market year.