Zycus’ enhanced iSource solution pushes the boundaries of e-sourcing technology

PRINCETON, N.J. May 22, 2012 – Procurement executives understand the benefits of e-Sourcing automation technology – shorter sourcing cycle times; more competitive markets; easier collaboration with spend owners, stakeholders and suppliers, and efficient use of procurement and other corporate resources. Nonetheless, they have not always been successful at obtaining broad adoption and routine use of e-Sourcing technology. Common laments: e-Sourcing tools are either overly simplistic, inflexible or emphasize advanced capabilities at the expense of important basics such as collaborative event creation and scoring, end-to-end sourcing project management, and effective communications among sourcing teams and suppliers.

With new enhancements to its e-Sourcing Solution – iSource, Zycus addresses the market gap directly, blending both fundamental and advanced e-Sourcing capabilities within a remarkably intuitive, flexible and easy-to-use tool. The solution is capable of handling 10,000+ line items and 100+ suppliers which allows its customers to conduct simple to highly complex sourcing events.

The new iOptimize module helps sourcing professionals of all levels to identify mathematically the best sourcing decisions deriving from complex supplier bid data without requiring advanced knowledge of applied mathematics. With prebuilt models for frequently used bid optimization scenarios and constraints, iOptimize delivers advanced sourcing decision support in as little as three clicks. At the same time, procurement groups looking to innovate beyond accepted approaches for bid optimization are still free to develop custom scenarios and constraints.

The new iManage module of iSource is a comprehensive sourcing and project management platform that includes category-specific project templates, dynamic dashboards and project status reporting to ensure that sourcing initiatives move forward on desired timelines, comply with preferred processes, and deliver predictable and consistent results.

Alongside development of these entirely new e-Sourcing modules, Zycus has also continued to enhance its core e-Sourcing solution in ways that improve user experience. The solution features:

• Comprehensive cost modeling and weighting,
• Flexible event modeling capability to handle comprehensive categories, including indirect and direct categories and services,
• Automated and manual event scoring,
• One-click interoperability with popular spreadsheet and word processing applications,
• A supplier e-forum for tightly controlling communications with suppliers,
• Single-screen, side-by-side comparison of supplier responses to questions, plus
• e-Auction capability supporting both English and Dutch auction, with live event monitoring.

Easy drag-and-drop event creation,

“We are determined to see procurement teams using efficient e-Sourcing technology to automate and speed up virtually every competitive interaction with suppliers – be it RFI, RFP, RFQ or e-Auction – and regardless of the type of commodity, item or service they are sourcing,” says Zycus VP of Global Marketing Anurag Dixit. “The biggest challenge with e-Sourcing has been to strike the right balance between form and function to create a tool that works exceptionally well in the practical world of procurement. We believe we are succeeding because so many Zycus customers are gaining real traction and broad adoption of e-Sourcing across their organizations.”