GoProcure: Vendor Analysis (Part 1 — Background and Solution Overview)

The question of how procurement organizations can best address the long tail of spend is still an open one, with multiple vendors offering their own flavor of the optimal tail-spend “solution.” For some, tackling the 80% of spend that is opaque and unmanaged is a matter of applying RFQ tools and automation to quickly bring dark purchasing into the light. (Recently profiled Fairmarkit is one example of this.) For others, a patchwork approach is the right fit, extending currently used P2P suites into the long-tail territory via punchout and integration methods. (Coupa’s combination strategy of using Aquiire’s web agent technology to crawl the internet as if it were a virtual catalog while also offering direct integration of Amazon Business content into e-procurement search results is one prominent example.)

Yet alongside these technology-first models another option is emerging. Some vendors are combining the possibilities of RFQ and catalog management tools with a BPO-lite, providing a combination of technology and services somewhat analogous to a managed services provider (MSP) for tail spend. (Chicago and Dubai-based Simfoni, which we cover in our SolutionMap for Spend and Procurement Analytics, is a notable example with a range of tail spend-specific tools.) The intended result is to capture the full range of tail purchases by creating routes for everyday users to easily request or source needed lower-value goods and services from suppliers that are not strategically managed while capturing the exceptions through the optional service layer. For more insights on how these tail-spend management approaches are all competing (and converging), see our tail spend management research study report here.

This multi-pronged approach is the strategy behind GoProcure, a four-year-old vendor out of Duluth, Georgia. GoProcure bills itself as a B2B e-commerce platform for all-in-one tail-spend management. Combining basic RFQ and requisitioning tools with a marketplace for procuring both goods and services, along with complementary services like a buying desk, GoProcure is positioning itself as capable of covering the full range of tail spend in a market where most vendors address some but not all of the tail, allowing it to claim procurement organizations at Global 2000, mid-market and private equity portfolio companies as clients.

This Spend Matters PRO Vendor Introduction offers a candid take on GoProcure and its capabilities. The two-part series includes an overview of GoProcure’s offering, a breakdown of what is comparatively good (and not so good) about the solution, a SWOT analysis and a selection requirements checklist for companies that might consider the provider.