At the beginning of May I had the opportunity to meet with the Basware team and was briefed on the recent launch of Basware Analytics as well as some new and improved capabilities around Basware’s eProcurement solution. As many of you may know, Basware is a provider of eInvoicing and procure-to-pay (P2P) solutions, the company also boasts a fairly sizeable ‘OPEN’ b2b network – The Basware Commerce Network. Here are some stats around the network:
- 900,000 buyers and suppliers (either directly connected to the Basware Commerce Network or via the interoperability agreements in place)
- 50 million transactions: Annual run rate of transactions (invoices, orders) that pass through Basware Commerce Network (either buyer, supplier or both being Basware’s direct customers)
- $420 billion: Total annual spend of the 50 million transactions
- 160 interoperability partners
- VAT compliance in 50 countries
- Users in 100 countries
With this large network in place and the large amount of data that flows through it, a sophisticated reporting and analytics tool can be immensely valuable to help enterprises understand and gain deep insights into spend, suppliers, pricing, performance, cash, etc. Many solutions will offer such capabilities, however, what differs is the ease with which data can be manipulated, the manner in it is displayed and the level of detail the user has access to. While there are various procure-to-pay solution providers that offer great products, when it comes to the sophistication of the reporting and analytics capabilities many tend to fall short.
When it came to upgrading its reporting capability Basware had a decision to make – build or partner? I believe they chose wisely and that is why Basware Analytics leverages one of the leading interactive data visualization and business intelligence tools in the market – Tableau. The analytics tool provides access to data across the P2P process allowing enterprises to analyze both procurement and AP data in an easy and consumable manner. Users have the ability to drill down into specific documents right from the charts and they can do so on tablets (I played around with the tool on an iPad during the briefing).
Due to the level of visibility this tool can potentially create around the P2P process, there are various groups within the enterprise that would want access to it including:
- Procurement – Access to spend data and trends, category specific data, contract compliance, supplier performance, procurement performance, etc.
- AP – Monitor productivity and performance metrics, early payment discount opportunities
- Finance/Treasury – Access to timely invoice and payment data, accurate data for forecasting
Basware Analytics is certainly a great data business intelligence tool but as with all reporting and analytics tools, it all depends on the quality of data – garbage in, garbage out.
Lastly, here are some of the other features that Basware also recently announced around the Basware Commerce Network:
- Basware Portal for Receiving & Tracking – Enables eInvoices to be sent and received easily and securely to customers through the Basware Commerce Network. It provides full visibility into the status of all invoices as they move through the AP process.
- Basware e-Invoice Email Lite – Great for small and mid-market suppliers, allows them to continue to send PDF invoices because the solution extracts detailed information from PDF & converts to eInvoice for the buyer.
