For any company looking to implement a spend analysis solution then this afternoon’s webinar on the subject, “Spend Analysis: A European Perspective”, would have made interesting listening.

According to Andrew Bartels of Forrester, the use of automated spend solutions has increased hugely over the past 12 months, and as more and more companies search for a solution that gives them clear, simple and manageable data, it’s easy to see why.

Although Bartels was keen to stress there is no ‘quick fix’ to spend analysis issues, he did outline the main ways in which many multi-national companies would benefit from implementing an automated spend analysis solution.

He believes for companies with a high volume of complex spending the benefits can be seen in several ways. Firstly, it makes the consolidation of spending easier – or as Bartels put it: “you know what you’re buying and you know who you’re buying it from”. Secondly, he believes categorising spend means you can concentrate valuable time on sourcing. Finally it assisted those companies that have to comply with SarBox, by making the identification of rogue spending a simpler task.

Add to these increased supplier compliance and improved procurement satisfaction and you’ve got a number of very good reasons why automated spend analysis is one subject most procurement professionals just can’t get enough of right now.

Bartels’ insight was swiftly followed by a great example of what spend analysis can do for a large multi-national company. Edgar Heitmann, a senior project manager at Orkla ASA detailed how a spend analysis solution has helped Norway’s largest public listed company achieve both huge savings and increased transparency.

If your company thought it had a big job on its hands, the tale of how Orkla managed to consolidate data from fragments of 50 companies into a system that now offers the company up-to-date spend analysis data on a monthly basis, should offer everyone hope.