Sphera SCRM: Vendor Analysis 2023 Update — SCRM solution overview, roadmap, competitors, user considerations, analyst summary

This Spend Matters Vendor Analysis gives an updated overview of Sphera’s SCRM solution, a solution built to improve supply chain resilience by tackling both predictable and unpredictable risks.

Sphera SCRM is the new name of riskmethods, an SCRM specialist that was founded in 2013 and has been extensively covered by Spend Matters. Although Sphera (the company, not the SCRM module) is a few years younger than riskmethods, it acquired riskmethods in 2022 to complete its ESG-focused offering with risk management capabilities.

The integration of the riskmethods application is a work in progress. Still, the offering is quite unique on the market as it combines capabilities made necessary by, among other things, the focus on supply chain resilience many organizations have developed as a response to the multitude of disruptions they suffered in the last few years and the ESG/sustainability agenda that the rising number of regulations has driven (e.g., GHG, human rights and PFAS).

And, further reinforcing its positioning, Sphera recently acquired SupplyShift, a supply chain network of 100,000 suppliers in which buyers and suppliers engage and share information to manage risk and regulatory compliance and a provider supply chain transparency and supplier mapping at any tier and data analytics, supplier scoring and traceability.

In fact, when you consider how ‘product’ and ‘supply’ are interdependent in driving performance (via a Design-For-Supply approach) and the existing and upcoming regulations related to product passports, the combination and convergence of operational risk management (SCRM) and product stewardship (product-centric compliance) becomes increasingly important.

This Vendor Analysis Update provides an overview of Sphera SCRM, a look at the competitive landscape, selection tips and an analyst summary.

Here’s why Sphera SCRM matters:

To the market — riskmethods’ previous growth over the years shows both the appetite for deep SCRM solutions and the recognition of the robustness of the company’s offering that is being enhanced to provide more depth and insights.

To customers — Sphera SCRM maps a supply chain to tier-2, identifies, addresses and monitors potential risk and can be extended to other Sphera applications.

To potential buyers — Sphera SCRM is a leading SCRM solution that ensures a company can monitor risks in its supply chain based on the locations, supplier sites and logistics routes it uses.