I have a procurement system, why do I need Services Procurement from a VMS?

We often hear organizations with a procurement system in place say, 'we don't need to consider the Beeline Services Procurement module, we handle that in our procurement tool.’

We know that procurement systems have their place for paper and pens, but for external labor services, we know that a specialized tool like Beeline can really help an organization in terms of efficiency, visibility, and spend control. Many procurement software companies agree – that’s why they’ve purchased VMS platforms to round out their overall procurement landscape. Beeline, as an independent VMS, provides robust integration options with all major procurement tools to allow this same enterprise visibility.?

A few things to consider:

• When you are also licensing a VMS’ Contingent Module, licensing a Services Procurement module can better give you a full view into your?entire?External Labor spend. You'll get an understanding of how and where all of your external labor spend is being utilized. Put side by side, you'll have a holistic view of your spend, your suppliers, how they are performing, etc.
• Procurement systems typically only track the top line cost of a services agreement, whereas a VMS like Beeline provides you insight into the resource spend on the SOW that you might not otherwise have. Things that could be important to you are things like, "do we have misclassified workers; are we paying SOW rates for someone who really should be a contingent resource", and "am I paying the appropriate rate vs. the corresponding rate card?"
• This 'active management' of the resources of the SOW also allows you to ensure proper risk compliance: "have these resources that I'm bringing into my building passed a background check?", "are they certified?", etc. When you are just paying a provider under a procurement tool, it is difficult to track the status of the individual resources.
• A VMS like Beeline allows for online entry of time and expenses with automatic timesheet workflows that expedite the approval process and creation of a consolidated invoice.

Lastly, because you may be using the same suppliers for Contingent and Services Procurement, utilizing a VMS for all external labor supports volume discounts and quick pay terms, resulting in real savings. This does not remove the spend from your procurement tool; Beeline can integrate your procurement tool to ensure the services and contingent subset of the spend are data are pushed back into the tool to round out the full procurement picture.