“Scout was a natural fit for us because it was so fast, it was so easy to use, and the product simply worked well with our team.”
Joe Frederick
Senior Manager of Strategic Sourcing, ServiceNow
Scout Platform
Rethink Your Sourcing Process
Scout’s offer is straightforward: By using our intuitive, cloud-based software, teams can finally put the “strategic” back in sourcing. Here’s how:
Centralize
Close the loop on strategic sourcing, from kickoff to contracts and every step in between. Say goodbye to cumbersome legacy systems, spreadsheets, and disparate emails. Scout provides one central data channel, so you can spend less time tracking down information and more time gaining insight from your sourcing events.
Collaborate
Seamless collaboration between teammates, stakeholders, lines of business, and suppliers should be easy — and with Scout, it is. Team chat, automated assignments, milestone notifications, and other user-friendly features break down silos and get everyone on the same page, fast.
Automate
Ensure that no project slips through the cracks with automatic request routing and customized contract milestones. Assign pending projects to appropriate category managers to facilitate a smooth transition from request to execution.
Analyze
Prove your team’s worth and promote its successes with better spend insight and savings visibility. Get full visibility into historic supplier performance and compare Use Scout’s robust reporting to drive bottom-line business impact and contribute to better outcomes across the enterprise.
Fact: 97% of customers see 10x+ ROI within the first year of using Scout.
INTAKE | PIPELINE | CONTRACTS
Intake
THE CHALLENGE
Sourcing has often been seen as a roadblock, and the painful process of making sourcing requests – historically done through an ungainly and error-prone combination of emails, spreadsheets, and phone calls – does nothing to help its case.
THE SOLUTION
Scout Intake provides a simple portal to compile requirements upstream of launching a sourcing event. It automatically assigns requests to the appropriate event owners, allowing sourcing teams and stakeholders to track project status with full visibility from start to finish.
THE RESULT
Sourcing becomes accessible to the organization — and is seen not as a roadblock, but a strategic partner in creating value for the enterprise.
Pipeline
THE CHALLENGE
Without proper visibility into your portfolio of planned and active projects, the sourcing pipeline turns into a serious blind spot — making it impossible to properly plan for and capitalize on sourcing opportunities.
THE SOLUTION
Scout Pipeline makes opportunity-based sourcing possible. With complete visibility into your project portfolio, prioritize accordingly and then track its progress through every stage of the process.
THE RESULT
Capitalize on sourcing opportunities in real-time, directly tie sourcing activity to business impact, and ultimately, better predict successful business outcomes.
Contracts
THE CHALLENGE
Managing supplier contracts can be cumbersome and disorganized.
THE SOLUTION
Scout Contracts is a vendor contract management solution that closes the loop on strategic sourcing and provides a bird’s eye view of supplier activities. Store supplier contracts and profiles in a single repository and stay organized with milestone notifications.
THE RESULT
Manage supplier contracts, eliminate risks, and review data across a single, collaborative workflow.
Fact: 90.2% of Scout customers see a benefit to their company’s overall cash position.
STRATEGIC SOURCING
THE CHALLENGE
Age-old issues – namely, disparate data and disorganized processes, which are unavoidable when you’re working in Excel and emails – make it near-impossible to source strategically.
THE SOLUTION
Using Scout Strategic Sourcing, build RFPs, RFQs, and RFIs – complete with questionnaires and pricing sheets – in minutes. Loop in internal stakeholders for supplier evaluations and tabulate scores automatically with weighted question values.
THE RESULT
Streamline supplier selection and source smarter, with fewer headaches.
Fact: 84% of Scout users see improved communication across their company.
REVERSE AUCTIONS
THE CHALLENGE
Reverse auctions are widely considered to be the most effective tool for maximizing savings and creating value, but they are also notoriously confusing and intimidating for suppliers.
THE SOLUTION
Scout Reverse Auctions gives buyers and suppliers the visibility needed to run a successful and equitable auction. It connects the dots across the process, giving suppliers clear specifications of the job at hand while helping buyers quickly drive to the lowest cost solution.
THE RESULT
Reap the cost-saving rewards of reverse auctions — without damaging supplier relations.
Fact: 68% of Scout customers see compliance improvements.
SUPPLIER PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT
THE CHALLENGE
Without complete and constant visibility into suppliers, driving value through strategic supplier relationships is near impossible.
THE SOLUTION
With Scout Supplier Performance Management, teams can easily track supplier performance and quickly gauge impact to the business, gather comprehensive feedback from stakeholders, and share development plans to increase value from the supply base.
THE RESULT
Armed with all the information you need, move beyond purely transactional supplier management to something far more strategic.
Fact: 78% of Scout customers see up to 4-7% increase in spend under management.
Features Snapshot
Savings Tracking
Savings Tracker allows sourcing teams to track savings across the enterprise, report findings to stakeholders, and better align with strategic company initiatives. It makes it easy to not only identify savings across the business, but also measure sourcing’s contribution to the bottom line.
Languages
With a full suite of language offerings, strategic sourcing has never been so accessible. Users can set custom language preferences, meaning that language barriers don’t have to translate to sourcing barriers.
Fact: 89% of Scout users launch their first event with a week.
Features at a Glance
- One-Page Event Setup
- RFP, RFI, RFQ
- Team Evaluations
- Weighted Supplier Scoring
- Custom Pricing Sheets
- Unlimited Line Items
- Mobile & Tablet Optimized
- Savings Tracking
- Event Progress Dashboards
- Reverse Auctions
- Accessible Customer Support
- Weekly Event Updates
- Deadline Reminders
- Event Template Library
- Custom In-App Templates
- Audit Trails
- Bulk Spreadsheet Export
- Unlimited File Sizes
- No IT Support Necessary
- Supplier Activity Tracking
- Event Report Generator
- One Day Implementation
- API
- Apples-to-Apples Comparison
- Document Management
- Supplier Message Center
- Multi-Round Bidding
- Q&A Management
- Supplier Database
- Tagging & Dynamic Search
- Bulk Supplier Import
- Admin Control Panel
- Single Sign-On