20 for 2020: Key Providers in the 2020s – Esker
Earlier this year, we initiated the first of our planned 20 for 2020 series’ as an echo to the 10 for 2010 series that we used to launch this site. That first 2020 series focused on the key themes and ideas that Chief Procurement Officers and Chief Financial Officers should have on their agenda this decade. This second series focuses on “Key Providers in the 2020s” which you can think of as (borrowing from Supply and Demand Chain Executive and countless others), the 20 “Solution Providers to Know” this decade. Today, we continue the series with Esker, a solution provider that allows businesses to power their digital transformation across procure-to-pay (P2P) and order-to-cash (O2C) processes.
Key Provider in the 2020s – Esker
Esker was founded in 1985 with the vision of helping businesses deliver paper documents electronically. Today, more than 30 years later, they have stayed true to their roots of digitizing and delivering documents, but they have significantly expanded their core offerings to become a leading provider of robust and comprehensive augmented-intelligence (AI) -driven process automation software designed to help financial and customer service organizations digitally transform their procure-to-pay (P2P) and order-to-cash (O2C) cycles.
Today, Esker is a leader in AI-driven process automation software with more than 6,000 companies worldwide. Esker has grown from its humble beginnings to now having operations in North America, Latin America, Europe and Asia Pacific with global headquarters in Lyon, France, and U.S. headquarters in Madison, Wisconsin.
Partnership with Customers
One of the factors behind Esker’s growth can no doubt be attributed to the importance it places on customer success and satisfaction. Esker prioritizes listening to its customers’ needs in order to help guide them with their vision for the future. Maintaining this close proximity has proven to be a key differentiator for Esker in the market today.
From AP to Full P2P and Supplier Management
Esker introduced its AP automation solution in 2006. Over time, more features and functionality have been added to their offering and have more recently branched out to provide a full procure-to-pay solution along with Supplier Information Management. The product roadmap has been influenced not only by market needs but also from the feedback and ongoing dialogue they maintain with their customer base. Their AP automation clients came to them wanting to control more of the P2P life cycle and it was a logical next step for them to add purchasing functionality to their solution.
More recently, Esker has added supplier management capabilities to their offering. While it is true that all companies want to be more productive and more efficient, in today’s globally interconnected world, a company’s reputation in the market has become increasingly important, not to mention much more readily accessible, in regards to working and partnering with suppliers. Not only are companies today responsible for managing and protecting their own reputation, more and more they are being tied to the companies they do business with in their supply chain. To this end, Esker introduced supplier management to help their customers better manage supplier risk on a day-to-day basis and make sure they are working with right suppliers because the consequences are greater than ever before.
Next on the Horizon – Contract Management
Companies expend a great deal of time and effort negotiating contracts with suppliers. However, once a contract is signed, too often they get filed away and key clauses and agreed upon terms never get activated because their no easy way to monitor them. Esker believes managing contracts within the same solution that manages AP and purchasing validations is critical to ensuring that contract terms don’t get lost or forgotten, and has plans to add this capability to their solution in the near future.
Conclusion
Over the past few years, Esker has invested significantly to develop an advanced solution suite not only for Accounts Payable automation but one that has evolved to include critical P2P functionality for purchasing and supplier management. Esker’s solutions help customers unlock strategic value in the P2P and cash conversion cycles. Accordingly, Esker is one of Ardent Partners’ Key Providers in the 2020s.
