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Did you know that the lack of a procurement process is one of the major reasons for companies overspending on purchases, which leads to
- Increased SaaS expenses
- Approval bottlenecks
- Rise of duplicate apps in the stack
Most organizations use a broken and ad-hoc procurement process prone to errors and delays. And let’s not forget the valuable time your procurement team will lose dealing with the manual SaaS buying process.
The recommended way to fix your broken process is by using approval workflows for procurement. Organizations should opt for SaaS buying software like CloudEagle with automated procurement workflows to streamline the process.
So, what are SaaS procurement workflows?
Before delving into the workflows, let's eliminate the common misconception about SaaS procurement.
SaaS procurement: what is it?
SaaS procurement is not just about purchasing; it covers a comprehensive set of tasks, from verifying purchase requests, selecting the right vendor, negotiating the terms, signing the contract, and effectively managing the SaaS subscriptions.
Procurement teams must possess complete control over the entire SaaS buying lifecycle and not just the purchasing process; only then can the process be streamlined.
Focusing only on the purchasing aspect of procurement will lead to:
- Application not meeting the requirements.
- Raise of duplicate apps within the stack (apps with the same functionalities)
- Missed renewals or contract discrepancies
- Inflated pricing terms
- Poor vendor relationship, etc.
Ensuring a smooth SaaS buying process
Manual procurement process is prone to bottlenecks. Procurement teams need automated platforms to ensure a smooth SaaS buying process.
CloudEagle is a SaaS management and procurement solution with numerous features to help IT, finance, and procurement teams manage SaaS apps, save on SaaS spending, and streamline SaaS procurement.
The platform has all the right features to streamline procurement,
- Procurement workflows
- Customizable intake request forms for various purchases
- Instant request-approval notifications
- Vendor research and management
- Price benchmarking data
- Assisted buying experts
- Pre-negotiated vendor discounts.
We often come across organizations that use two different solutions for procurement workflows and SaaS buying services. With CloudEagle, you can consolidate those applications and continue using one centralized platform for all your procurement and negotiation operations.
What are SaaS procurement workflows?
Procurement workflows refer to a series of pre-defined steps created to automate repetitive tasks. They represent a systematic approach aimed at breaking down silos in the procurement process and making the flow hassle-free.
From raising intake requests to signing the contract and purchasing the application, SaaS procurement and sourcing workflows aim to significantly minimize the need for manual intervention and accelerate the process.
Workflows ensure complete visibility, automatically routing each task to relevant stakeholders. No more manual chasing for approvals or follow-ups via email. Your procurement team can now automate the entire process, enabling them to focus on strategic tasks.
How to create a procurement workflow in CloudEagle?
Here’s the process flow:
1. Create an intake form for the requester to fill out
2. Configure relevant workflows based on the purchase type
3. Create an intake request and link both the form and the workflow to it
4. Users raise a purchase request, triggering the workflow.
5. All stakeholders will be notified.
6. The team can collaborate and make an informed purchase decision.
1. Customizable intake forms
There is no one-size-fits-all approach to procurement, so we made the intake forms comprehensive. It is not limited to just SaaS procurement; you can create forms for other software, hardware, and office supply procurements.
You can include multiple questions in your intake forms to understand why the requester wants to purchase the product.
2. Procurement workflow
Once the form is created, you can create the workflow for the particular procurement process. You can configure each task, set the timelines to complete each task and create the workflow.
You have the option to select from ready-made templates for procurement workflows or create a new one. With CloudEagle's user-friendly drag-and-drop tools and no-code editor, you can effortlessly create workflows without the IT team’s assistance.
Diego Coria, Finance Manager at Nowports, shares the success story of how CloudEagle procurement workflows saved them time and money. Check it out →
3. Intake requests
After creating the intake forms and the workflow, you have to link them to the intake requests, so when a user wants to raise a request, he or she can fill out the respective form, and the relevant workflow will be triggered.
This is how the process flows:
1. Specify the intake request type
2. Add relevant intake form
3. Add a relevant workflow. You can configure a new workflow here if you haven’t already created one.
4. Add the owner and watchers for workflow
5. Create an intake request.
Note: While creating a workflow, you can create a Slack channel for the respective workflow. The owner, watchers, and relevant stakeholders will be automatically added to the Slack channel to communicate and make an informed purchase decision.
4. Raising a request and notifications
When the user raises a request via the procurement module by filling out the relevant form, the respective workflow will be triggered based on the type of purchase request.
All relevant stakeholders will be notified via Slack, Email, and In-app notifications. Each member will be assigned relevant tasks, and they can collaborate via the Slack channel to make the right decision.
When a member hasn’t completed the task, it’ll be escalated to the next stakeholder, ensuring that all the tasks are completed on time, resulting in seamless process completion.
Members of the workflow will be notified of any updates via Slack so they can be on top of it every time.
5. Slack for Procurement
Your users need not visit CloudEagle every time to raise a purchase request. Our new “Slack + CloudEagle” integration has made the process simple.
With the new CloudEagle Slack bot, users can raise purchase requests in Slack. The respective workflow will be triggered, stakeholders will be notified via Slack, and a private channel will be created for collaboration.
Here’s a quick rundown of the functionalities that make CloudEagle’s procurement workflows stand out:
- Customizable intake forms
- Procurement is not limited only to SaaS applications
- Intake request notifications via Slack, Gmail, and In-app
- Purchase requests can be raised via Slack
- Workflow updates on Slack
- Create private Slack channel for respective workflows.
The fun doesn’t end here. Once the procurement requests are approved, you can still use CloudEagle to complete the negotiation process (post-request approval).
If you have a lean procurement team or your team is stacked with strategic tasks, you can outsource the SaaS buying process to our negotiation experts.
Our team of experts will assess the requirements, research potential vendors, evaluate competitive pricing, utilize pricing benchmarks, and negotiate with the customer on your behalf.
So, not only can you automate your procurement process, but you can also outsource your SaaS negotiation and purchase the right product at the right price through our experts. This saves time for your team, so they can focus on running more critical tasks to boost your revenue.
Benefits of using CloudEagle's procurement workflows for businesses
Cost savings
CloudEagle has an extensive database of applications and a vendor research tool to help businesses make informed purchase decisions. Our SaaS buyers will leverage the price benchmarking data to choose vendors that offer the best value for their pricing and reduce costs.
Also, CloudEagle has access to pre-negotiated discounts thanks to its years-long relationship with the vendors. They are more likely to offer discounts, and that’s one of many reasons to outsource SaaS buying to CloudEagle.
Customizable intake forms ensure that you ask the right questions to the requester. A clear understanding of the requirements will help you better negotiate and get favorable deals.
Save time and increase productivity
SaaS buying can be time-consuming and tedious; doing it manually will lead to inaccuracies. CloudEagle’s procurement workflow will solve these pain points by automating your tasks.
Once the procurement and sourcing workflows are initiated, they’ll automatically notify relevant stakeholders, escalate the tasks, and ensure that the request is approved on time. Your procurement teams can save time and increase their productivity by focusing on more strategic tasks.
Visibility for all stakeholders
One of the major pain points in the buying process is the lack of visibility. The requester will not know where their request goes, whether it is moving, stuck in the middle, or lost entirely. This leads to inaccurate and delayed procurement, eventually leading to decentralized purchasing.
Increase visibility over your procurement process with CloudEagle. The requester can check the progress in real-time and receive timely updates on his request via Slack and Email. 100% transparency increases accountability and accelerates the procurement process.
Various types of purchases
CloudEagle’s procurement workflows are not limited to SaaS applications. You can create workflows for various types of products. Users can request software, hardware, renewals, and much more.
Enhanced vendor relationships
The best thing about CloudEagle is its vendor management features. You can communicate with the vendors, compare the latest prices, talk to their customers, get access to discounts, and more.
CloudEagle’s expert negotiation team can assist you by communicating with the vendor on your behalf and securing the best deals. This way, you’ll have a better chance of maintaining good vendor relationships and longevity of service.
What are the key considerations when evaluating SaaS procurement software?
1. The platform should minimize the manual workload and free the procurement teams from hassles.
2. The ability to create a workflow for any type of purchase
3. It must possess an extensive database of SaaS vendors and applications, including the latest pricing plans.
4. The platform must have access to unique discounts from vendors.
5. It should have a team of SaaS contract negotiation experts to simplify negotiations for you.
6. Functionality to create a Slack channel for specific procurement workflow to increase collaboration
7. Raise procurement requests from Slack without logging into the CloudEagle app.
8. It should provide complete transparency over the buying process.
These are the factors that make for an excellent procurement solution.
In that case, CloudEagle fulfills all the above-mentioned factors. Streamline SaaS procurement, centralize SaaS buying, and help procurement teams save time and increase productivity through negotiation assistance.
Wrapping up
SaaS purchases are never easy, but with platforms like CloudEagle, you can transform your SaaS procurement process. We created this article to show how CloudEagle’s procurement workflows can help automate repetitive tasks.
SaaS procurement workflows will help you centralize your procurement, remove bottlenecks, and increase SaaS buying transparency, preventing shadow IT and the rise of duplicate apps in your portfolio.
Saving on SaaS spend starts with streamlining your procurement. Book a demo with our experts to learn how SaaS buying workflows can increase your revenue.
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