A Trusted Procurement Partner
Premikati harnesses SAP Ariba software to meet clients’ buying needs.
Procurement is a complex process for all businesses, with midmarket firms facing the same challenges in managing spend and suppliers as their larger peers. While procurement can require substantial resources to navigate, Premikati, Inc. is busy streamlining the often-chaotic operation for its midsize clientele.
Utilizing SAP Ariba software, the Indianapolis-based consulting company allows customers to control spending, cutting through tedious paperwork and PDFs by automating each step of the buying process.
“We think of ourselves as a procurement/contract management organization,” says Chad Buchanan, COO and general counsel at Premikati. “We look at your processes and your pain points, and help figure out a better path forward.”
Part of that guidance is an investment in technology, namely an integrated SAP Ariba procure-to-pay solution. Staffed by a team of certified Six Sigma Black Belt experts, Change Masters and procurement professionals, Premikati offers a range of business and legal outsourcing services all harnessing SAP Ariba technology.
A Simple-to-Use System
Premikati is a global SAP Ariba BPO partner, using the software to perform contract management services for large enterprise companies as well as entities accruing under $500 million in annual revenue.
We think of ourselves as a procurement/contract management organization. We look at your processes and your pain points, and help figure out a better path forward.
Chad Buchanan
COO and General Counsel, Premikati
One of Premikati’s more recent additions to its client roster is Care Purchasing Services (CPS), a national group purchasing organization (GPO) dedicated to the senior living market. As a GPO servicing approximately 2,000 member organizations, aggregating purchasing volume with manufacturers, distributors and other vendors is vital to company success.
CPS connects members to hundreds of carefully vetted vendors in plant operations, food service, medical supplies and other industries. Bringing value-added programs to thousands of organizations nationwide—a strategy that includes consulting on every detail of procurement—necessitates both transparency and efficiency in the buying process.
Enter Premikati, which helped CPS implement a suite of SAP Ariba Spend Analysis software. Through this technology, CPS can easily gather and classify spend data based on updated company and industry standards. Spend visibility equates to more confident buying decisions, thanks to unique features allowing CPS to track marketplace development and compare spend to competitors.
“[SAP Ariba] rolls up that data, and CPS can use our sourcing tool to run RFP and reverse action to find better pricing,” Buchanan says. “By using overall combined spend, they can negotiate better deals.”
Put simply, CPS owns the system, while Premikati maintains its daily upkeep. Buchanan compares the CPS version of the tool to workplace sharing, where multiple companies use the same conference room.
Utilizing SAP Ariba sofware, the Indianapolis-based consulting company allows customers to control spending, cutting through tedious paperwork and PDFs by automating each step of the buying process.
“That’s how the SAP Ariba marketplace works—CPS can have their members use the tool as well,” Buchanan says. “They’re utilizing best-in-class Ariba software to do this work, without each individual organization having to buy their own instance of Ariba.”
Additionally, smaller CPS member enterprises won’t need the full software suite, which can cost upwards of $100,000 annually.
Buchanan says, “What’s really unique is that a company not ready to buy their own version of the system can still utilize it from an organization like CPS. They’re not getting every feature, but are still able to make purchases and get the best pricing. It’s great to share Ariba instances across multiple buying organizations, where the top organization already has set suppliers and pricing.”
The CPS version of SAP Ariba is a proof of concept, with rollouts across the member base tabbed for this year into 2022. As for Premikati, the company enjoyed a three-year growth rate of 600% prior to 2020, a jump Buchanan attributes to his firm’s partnership with enterprise application software leader SAP, which dates back to 2015.
Launched in 2009, Premikati continues to pursue private equity, a space that Buchanan believes is ripe for the marketplace approach bolstered by SAP Ariba innovations.
“Getting that approach to work well for a variety of different companies is our top focus,” he says. “We’re also going after new clients for SAP Ariba, with a goal of doubling sales from 2020. 2021 will be a significant growth year for us.”
