Over at Spend Matters (here and here), there’s a heated debate over Coupa’s recent marketing campaign and it’s claims to better Ariba in many areas. Now I’m not going to jump into that fray – I’ve spent too many years as a copy writer and music critic to bother with marketing claims and hyping the flavor of the month.
In my mind, the one thing that stands out in differentiating purchasing software is ease of use. End-users don’t care if they work for a multi-national, multi-billion dollar company or if they work for a local firm with single-digit FTEs. They are users of a system and by default they expect things to work easily, smoothly and efficiently. It’s as simple as that. Just because you work for a multi-national doesn’t mean you should expect that the tools you use should be complicated.
Bizconnect’s recent poll shows just this (albeit that their research might be a bit shifty):
43 percent of the respondents said the most important feature they look for when evaluating new purchasing software is ease of use.
So what exactly is ease of use.
Well, today many purchasing software developers look at what Google is doing in the domain, or the major internet webshops. I would say that strategy is rather reactive. In an increasingly mobile (in all senses of the word) world – anything developed with a laptop or stationary computer in mind is going to be second-tier by the time they’re closing in on their release date. If your not convinced, check out this blog-post at Google Mobile; Smarter Shopping with Google Moblie to see where internet commerce is heading.
With smart phone sales boosting the entire mobile phone market in 2009, up by 23.8 percent year over year according to Gartner it’s a no brainer to see where development budgets should be going in the future.
Smartphone sales to end users continued their strong growth in the fourth quarter of 2009, totalling 53.8 million units, up 41.1 per cent from the same period in 2008. In 2009, smartphone sales reached 172.4 million units, a 23.8 per cent increase from 2008. More at Gartner.
It’s a fair guess that many a smart phone ended up in the pockets of business managers looking for ways to better manage their daily work (whilst keeping a front of success and innovation). Smart phones are ease of use. Mobile, simple, efficient and always online.
No matter where the war of words between Coupa, Ariba and the numerous commentators end up – purchasing software providers that do not support smart phones in the near future will not be seen as front runners or purveyors of ease-of-use. They’ll just be more of the same old that we are struggling to leave behind.
February 27, 2010 at 11:33 am
I quite agree about the smart phones.
One of the reasons why companies have resisted handheld devices in the field (construction sites, factory floor etc) is the perceived need by potential users for highly robust, and as a consequence expensive, terminals. Yet the same users communicate using a smart phone at a disposable price that is more than capable of allowing the user to perform simple tasks like approval of a purchase.
February 28, 2010 at 11:24 pm
As a full time “rugged” phone user I can really sympathize with users that want robust devices and are a bit skeptic about some of the smart phones on the market. It seems to me that this market segment has been left vacant by the bigger players – the rugged devices they market today target a “wilderness” buyer rather than a professional in need of a rugged work tool.
But as you point out – simple tasks in many cases do not imply that the handheld needs to be high-end – most tasks can (and should) be performed on a “simpler” device. In any case, software providers need to step up and provide a mobile opportunity.
March 5, 2010 at 12:19 am
Torbjörn, our polls on PurchasingBizconnect aren’t “shifty”, but they’re not an in-depth analysis of trends, either. They are what they look to be–a quick hit poll to capture a simple trend. Look to the pages of Purchasing magazine in April for a deeper-dive analysis on trends in the software industry (which that poll was designed to feed). Here’s a teaser: We’ll investigate procurement’s priorites in selecting software it plans to USE vs. software it plans to BUY for another org.
March 5, 2010 at 9:18 am
Looking back, “shifty” was the wrong word – internet speed sometimes does that to you. I’m sorry.
I really enjoy the trend snapshots – though I am a bit suspicious of the results sometimes, but that’s another matter – and the April issue sound like a must read for practitioners and vendors alike.
December 9, 2010 at 1:38 pm
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