How a Source-to-Pay Migration is Like a Home Renovation

As with any home renovation project, your expectation is that you are going to wind up with a better home at the end. The same should be true for a move from one provider to another. You should expect a serious upgrade at the end of your source-to-pay renovation. If you’re about to undergo your own S2P renovation, consider the following when making the move.

1. Don’t Move Your Foundation

Over the years you built a solid foundation with your initial provider. You have built some great sourcing templates and process workflows and business processes. When you move from one provider to another you should expect that your foundation is moved over. Only work with a provider that has experience in keeping your foundation in place. Only a few know how to move over your foundation, so find one with a migration toolkit that can do this for you.

2. Get Rid of the Junk in the Closet

When switching providers, think about that beautiful antique fireplace that you want to keep but also think about all of the old junk you have that you no longer want. These migrations give you a chance to keep the important stuff but either fully get rid of or at least archive the stuff that is creating clutter in your program. Better providers can help you retain and declutter at the same time.

3. Don’t Overpay for the Renovation

There is a myth that in order to keep your foundation and get all the modern upgrades that you have to pay a lot. The truth of the matter is that bringing over a solid foundation and data is a time savings for the new vendor, in that it doesn’t have to start from the ground up and build your business process. If you are being told that a move from one vendor to another is an incremental cost over a fresh deployment, you should reconsider your options.

4. Don’t Completely Rebuild Your House the Same Way

Typically, there are elements of your old house that you don’t like any more. When you do the renovation, don’t bring over the parts you grew tired of. This renovation is an opportunity to rethink your business processes that were established many years ago and think about what makes sense in our more digital environment. For the sake of simplicity, don’t bring everything over as is. Take the time to modernize your process.

5. A Renovation Should Not Take That Long

I have heard prospects tell me that they are being quoted a year to do a full migration because they take longer than starting from scratch. This should not be the case. A renovation of a source-to-pay solution should be shorter than starting from scratch. In my opinion, it should be 50% faster than starting from scratch. If you are being told it will take longer, ask your provider how many of these migrations it has actually performed. Get migration references.

6. Don’t Forget to Warn Your Residents and Neighbors

Yes, these people will be affected by this renovation. That means you have to think about your suppliers. Many of the better tools will bring over all of the supplier data as well, but the reality is that for some of them they will be using a new tool for the first time. Find a positive message to deliver to them. In most cases, the best message is that they won’t have any fees in the home. Since many companies are fleeing the providers that are charging and switching to those that are not charging, the message is very positive with them.

7. Hold a Housewarming Party at the Completion of the Renovation

Think of the completion of the renovation as a rebirth of sorts. Make a big splash that you have built yourself a beautiful new source-to-pay solution with all the modern bells and whistles. Deliver to your organization and your supplier community the message that you have taken all the positive steps to modernize your solution and that you look forward to better results and a better user experience.

A home renovation is never easy, but with the modern migration tool kits that are out there and companies with the skill and know-how to do these easily, they are not the mess they were just a mere five years ago. As sourcing professionals, we owe it to our organization to regularly investigate the cost for a migration and understand the benefits. Many of us are being forced to renovate because our provider is no longer supporting behind the firewall or has shut their doors or has been sold. Others are doing the renovation because their house/solution has grown old and tired. Regardless of the reason, consider the above when making a move.