How to Define Your Procurement Software Requirements – Criteria with Examples

When it comes to purchasing procurement software, knowing what to look for can make the difference between a successful implementation and a costly mistake. 

With so many options on the market, it's important to have a clear understanding of your organization's specific needs and requirements.

In this guide, we'll explore the key procurement software requirements to consider when evaluating solutions, so you can lay out your goals and choose the right tool for your business.

What are procurement software requirements? 

Procurement software requirements define the key capabilities and characteristics needed from a solution to make it easy for procurement teams to purchase goods and services and drive value for the organization.

A key premise is that the software buying process is highly complex and involves numerous stakeholders across finance, legal, IT and the business.

Therefore, to improve your purchasing cycles and maximize ROI, procurement software must provide teams with the right functionality to:

• Assess organizational needs and build robust requirements
• Research the market and evaluate potential solutions
• Justify selections and build consensus with stakeholders
• Onboard suppliers and implement the solution quickly
• Measure performance and optimize processes over time

Procurement software requirements are most critical for organizations with long, complex purchasing cycles involving many stakeholders. These procurement teams need purpose-built functionality to effectively build consensus, overcome buying hurdles, and drive long-term adoption.

How are procurement software requirements different from general software requirements? 

Most IT teams are already accustomed to defining general technical and functional requirements when purchasing business software. However, there are key differences when it comes to specifying procurement software requirements.

Here's the easiest way to understand the distinction:

• General software requirements primarily focus on the functional needs of the end users
• Procurement software requirements emphasize the needs of the buyers and others involved in the purchasing process

Examples of general software requirements include:

• Technical specifications and compatibility
• Application architecture and customization
• Use cases and user stories
• Reporting and analytics capabilities
• Security and compliance standards

On the other hand, procurement-specific requirements focus on streamlining the buying process:

• Spend visibility and savings tracking
• Procure-to-pay workflow automation
• Supplier enablement and collaboration
• Contract authoring and compliance
• Purchasing-specific benchmarks and KPIs

There is often some overlap between the two categories, but procurement requirements uniquely emphasize the source-to-pay process and the needs of stakeholders involved in buying.

If you're unsure whether a requirement is procurement-focused, consider if it:

• Provides the visibility buyers need to assess options and build a short list
• Streamlines or automates any steps of the overall procure-to-pay process
• Makes it easier to engage and collaborate with procurement stakeholders
• Helps build consensus on the purchase and secure final sign-off faster
• Enables ongoing optimization of organizational purchasing over time

If the answer is yes, it's a procurement software requirement that will help enable easier buying. 

Next, let's dive deeper into the specific requirements to look for.

Three reasons you can't ignore procurement software requirements –The Benefits

Procurement software requirements are important to drive strategic purchasing and cross-functional collaboration. Well-defined requirements ensure the chosen tools prioritize spend visibility, automate manual tasks, and facilitate stakeholder alignment.

1. Procurement teams need specialized tools to succeed 

Procurement has become a highly strategic discipline, yet many organizations still rely on general purpose tools like spreadsheets, email and legacy ERP systems to manage purchasing. These tools aren't purpose-built for procurement, which leads to:

• Lack of centralized visibility into organizational spend and supplier relationships
• Highly manual effort and inefficient procurement processes vulnerable to errors
• Difficulty collaborating with stakeholders and aligning on purchasing decisions
• Limited procurement-specific analytics to track performance and optimize buying

Modern procurement teams need specialized software with specific functionality designed to streamline the source-to-pay lifecycle. Defining a clear set of procurement requirements ensures you adopt a best-fit solution for your organization's unique needs.

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2. Procurement impacts stakeholders across the business 

Procurement is not an isolated back-office function. The software solutions and processes implemented have ripple effects on stakeholders across finance, accounting, legal, IT, and lines of business.

If procurement software doesn't meet the needs of these diverse stakeholders, it leads to process bottlenecks, maverick spending, and drawn-out purchasing cycles. 

The organization then faces risks like:

• Wasted spend on the wrong tools and poor contract terms
• Regulatory fines and reputational damage from non-compliant buying
• Delayed time-to-value as procurement cycles get bogged down by obstacles
• Inefficient procurement processes that drain hours of productivity across teams

When procurement invests the time to define detailed requirements focused on enabling the collective buying team, they ensure broad organizational alignment and maximize the ROI from purchasing.

3. The requirements process itself enables smarter buying 

Defining procurement software requirements is not some check-the-box task. It's a valuable exercise in enabling a better buying process that delivers long-term value. It forces the procurement team to:

• Align on their most important business needs, goals and priorities
• Gain clarity on current process challenges and improvement opportunities
• Map out their ideal future state procure-to-pay process in concrete terms
• Identify key stakeholders to engage early and often throughout the buying cycle
• Build upfront consensus on decision criteria to prevent late-stage misalignment

Going through a structured software requirements gathering process early on ultimately makes it much easier to navigate the rest of the purchasing process. The more specific and comprehensive the requirements, the easier it is for procurement to objectively evaluate providers, justify the purchase, and secure final sign-off.

In the next section, we'll explore the key requirements for procurement teams to consider.

How to define procurement software requirements 

With a clear understanding of what procurement software requirements are and why they matter so much, the next logical question is: how can procurement teams go about defining their own requirements in an effective and efficient way?

While there is no one-size-fits-all approach, there are several best practices and proven frameworks that can help guide the process. Here are some key steps that procurement teams can follow:

1. Start by understanding your current state and future goals 

Before diving into specific features and capabilities, it's important to take a step back and assess your organization's current procurement processes, pain points, and strategic objectives. This means engaging with stakeholders across the business to gather input and build a comprehensive understanding of where you are today, and where you want to be in the future.

Some key questions to consider include:

• What are our biggest challenges and inefficiencies in the procurement process today?
• Where are we spending the most time and manual effort, and what tasks could be automated?
• How are we currently measuring procurement performance, and where do we have gaps in visibility?
• What are our top strategic priorities as a procurement organization over the next 1-3 years?
• How can procurement technology help us achieve these goals and drive more value for the business?

By answering these questions, procurement teams can start to develop a clear picture of their unique requirements and priorities. This foundation will serve as a valuable reference point throughout the rest of the requirements definition process.

2. Map requirements to the key stages of the procurement lifecycle 

Once you have a solid understanding of your current state and future goals, the next step is to start mapping out specific requirements across the different stages of the procurement lifecycle. This helps to ensure that you are taking a comprehensive and end-to-end view, rather than just focusing on a narrow set of features or capabilities.

While every organization's procurement process is different, there are several common stages that most teams go through, including:

• Spend Analysis: Gaining visibility into where money is being spent, with whom, and on what categories
• Strategic Sourcing: Identifying and evaluating potential suppliers, negotiating contracts, and managing RFPs/RFQs
• Procure-to-Pay: Processing purchase orders, managing invoices and payments, and ensuring compliance
• Supplier Management: Onboarding new vendors, monitoring performance, and collaborating to drive continuous improvement

For each of these stages, procurement teams should define a set of key requirements that will help them perform the associated tasks more efficiently and effectively.

Some examples might include:

– Spend Analysis

• Automated data extraction and classification to provide accurate, real-time visibility into spend data
• Customizable dashboards and reports to surface key insights and identify savings opportunities
• Built-in benchmarking capabilities to compare performance against industry peers and best practices

– Strategic Sourcing

• Centralized repository for storing and managing supplier information, contracts, and performance data
• Collaborative RFx creation and distribution tools to streamline the sourcing process
• Robust scoring and evaluation capabilities to enable data-driven supplier selection decisions

– Procure-to-Pay

• Automated three-way matching to reconcile POs, invoices, and receipts and identify exceptions
• Mobile capabilities to enable managers to review and approve purchases on-the-go
• Configurable approval workflows to enforce purchasing policies and prevent maverick spend

– Supplier Management

• Customizable supplier scorecards and KPI tracking to monitor performance and identify issues
• Secure collaboration portals to share information and align on improvement objectives
• Integration with third-party risk management tools to assess and mitigate supplier risk exposure

When you define granular requirements at each stage of the procurement lifecycle, your team can develop a comprehensive view of your needs and ensure that no critical capabilities are overlooked.

3. Consider the unique needs of your stakeholders 

As discussed earlier, procurement software decisions impact a wide range of stakeholders across the organization, from finance and accounting to IT and business unit leaders. To ensure that the chosen solution meets the needs of all relevant parties, it's important to engage these stakeholders early in the requirements definition process and solicit their input.

This means going beyond simply asking what features they want, and instead seeking to understand their unique challenges, goals, and pain points. Some key questions to ask might include:

• What are the biggest bottlenecks or inefficiencies in your current processes that procurement software could help address?
• What metrics or KPIs are most important for you to track and report on?
• What systems or tools does the procurement software need to integrate with to support your workflows?
• How do you prefer to interact with procurement (e.g. self-service portal, mobile app, etc.)?
• What are your top concerns or requirements related to data security, compliance, and risk management?

By gathering this input upfront, procurement teams can ensure that stakeholder needs are reflected in the requirements, and build buy-in and alignment behind the initiative. This can pay significant dividends down the line when it comes time to secure budget approvals and drive adoption of the new solution.

4. Prioritize and refine your requirements list

Once you have gathered input from stakeholders and mapped out requirements across the procurement lifecycle, you will likely have a very long list of potential features and capabilities to consider. To make this list actionable, it's important to prioritize and refine your requirements based on their relative importance and feasibility.

One effective approach is to categorize each requirement as either "must-have", "nice-to-have", or "future consideration". This helps procurement teams focus their efforts on the most critical capabilities first, while still leaving room for longer-term enhancements and innovations.

How Spendflo Helps You Streamline Procurement and Drive More Value

At Spendflo, we're committed to helping procurement teams like yours overcome the challenges of defining requirements, evaluating vendors, and implementing new software solutions. Our comprehensive, cloud-based platform is designed to centralize your procurement data and processes, giving you the visibility, control, and insights you need to drive more value for your organization.

With Spendflo, you get:

• A single, intuitive platform that helps you oversee the entire procurement lifecycle, from spend analysis to supplier management, saving you time and effort.
• Powerful analytics and reporting capabilities that provide real-time visibility into spend, supplier performance, and compliance, so you can make smarter, data-driven decisions.
• Expert support and guidance from our team of procurement professionals, who partner with you to understand your unique needs and ensure a successful implementation that delivers rapid results.

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Frequently Asked Questions About Procurement Software Requirements

1. What is the software procurement process? 

Software procurement involves identifying needs, defining requirements, evaluating vendors, negotiating contracts, and implementing the solution. It requires collaboration between procurement, IT, and business stakeholders to ensure the software delivers value and aligns with organizational goals.

2. What are the criteria for procurement? 

Key criteria for evaluating procurement software include functionality, ease of use, integration, scalability, and vendor support. The solution should align with the organization's requirements, streamline processes, and provide data-driven insights, while also considering total cost of ownership.

3. What are the 7 stages of procurement?

The seven stages of procurement are need identification, requirements definition, vendor selection, contract negotiation, purchase order and invoice processing, receipt and payment, and ongoing vendor management. Each stage is critical for ensuring a successful procurement process.

4. What are the 4 types of procurement? 

The four main types of procurement are direct (materials for production), indirect (supplies and services), services (third-party providers), and capital expenditure (long-term assets). Each type requires a tailored approach and specialized software capabilities to manage effectively.

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