Small to medium-sized businesses are the backbone of the U.S. economy, driving growth while balancing ambitious goals with limited resources. For these businesses, deciding where to invest and where to cut costs is a daily challenge — made even more complicated by a lack of access to reliable data.
This visibility gap is especially evident when it comes to managing third-party vendors and external supply chains. While vendor management systems (VMS) exist to address this, many legacy systems rely on outdated processes, incomplete or obsolete data, and time-consuming procedures.
As in so many other areas and industries, technology is helping to address these shortcomings in vendor management, and Nectar iQ is a forward-thinking part of that evolution. The company’s vendor management software utilizes powerful tech capabilities to increase visibility and help businesses with tight budgets connect and cultivate relationships with the right suppliers.
The Importance of a Robust Supply Chain
A brand’s internal workforce composition is a common concern for small business leaders. Things like recruiting the right talent and maintaining lean teams can help a small business staff remain effective as it establishes itself and seeks to grow.
However, sound internal staff management is no longer enough to keep a tight ship. In a world where over a third of all small businesses are outsourcing at least one business process, companies must think outside of their own internal teams. They must consider the quality and purpose of their larger networks — including vendors, suppliers, and third-party partners up and down their supply chains.
By looking beyond internal hiring, smaller companies can ensure that the values, efficiencies, affordability, and overall economic impact are reflected across the larger ecosystems they create. This develops a business network that is not just healthy. It can reflect the values and beliefs of the community that a company seeks to serve. This kind of operation-wide integration helps brands align with their customer base and ensures that they are investing in business partners that are best suited for long-term health and growth.
While this is ideal, traditional vendor management systems lack the capabilities for small business teams with limited hours to use them properly. It is challenging (and often impossible) for overstretched startup and small business teams to invest the time and effort required to identify and engage with ideal partners across their supply chain. This is where Nectar iQ is making a difference.
Nectar iQ Is Leveraging Technology to Transform Supply Chain Visibility and Impact, Regardless of Business Size
Nectar is a part of IBEX IT Business Experts, an Inc. 5000 business with a network of contracting professionals. This started with a focus on Healthcare and the Federal government, including collaborations with the US Army, US Air Force, Cox Enterprises, the CDC, and NASA. IBEX IT’s high-profile success provided deep insights into vendor management across multiple complex sectors of the economy. It also allowed it to self-fund Nectar iQ as a unique solution to a real-world problem.
In 2018, IBEX IT launched Nectar iQ in a hospital system looking to establish a clear Vendor Management System and desiring to create clearer visibility and access to buyers across its network. Founder and CEO Tracey Grace explained the motivation behind creating the company, saying, “Nectar IQ was created to solve a critical problem in supplier management at one of the largest hospital systems in the northeast — they were struggling to manage their vendor pool, and they didn’t see anything in the market that would help them find, vet, and manage vendors efficiently, especially in their decentralized procurement environment. Traditional vendor management systems were outdated, fragmented, and lacked real-time visibility into supplier performance. We saw an opportunity to develop a technology-driven solution that not only improved supplier visibility but also improved sourcing strategies, reduced compliance risks, and drove cost efficiency.”
The fledgling software was effective, leading to the launch of the full Nectar iQ software solution to support businesses across any industry or sector of the economy. The tech-powered solution streamlines effective and insightful vendor management by providing an impressive degree of data-driven information across a supply chain. It functions as a centralized hub for buyers and procurement professionals across an increasingly global supply chain environment and empowers leaders to make informed decisions that reduce administrative tasks and unnecessary risks.
Greater supply chain visibility generates several specific efficiencies with vendors and supplier management. For instance, it opens the door for small businesses to stimulate economic growth through greater communication, visibility, and awareness of opportunities that might have otherwise gone unnoticed while focused on conducting internal business. By providing data-driven insights powered by automated tools, Nectar iQ also taps into the power of real-time data. Its updated systems help businesses make more informed supplier decisions based on relevant and current information.
The Benefits of Nectar iQ’s Vendor Management Software
The increased visibility of Nectar iQ’s leading vendor management software platform has multiple benefits. For example, Nectar iQ helps small businesses:
- Automates the spend analytics by industry, demographics, certifications, and year-over-year spending habits.
- Gain a higher degree of transparency that clarifies the sourcing and vetting process for buyer and procurement.
- Improve collaboration with vendors through a clearer understanding of their place, position, and value within their ecosystem.
- Manage compliance and risk through higher quality, relevant data insights that are up-to-date and reflect the current state of operations.
- Improve efficiency through automated, cost-effective, tech-powered supply chain visibility.
- Maintain scalability to accommodate future growth without compromising supply chain quality.
Nectar iQ enables businesses to make more informed supplier decisions by providing data-driven insights and automated tools. This modern approach streamlines procurement and helps corporations build stronger, more sustainable partnerships with the small businesses that drive local economies.
Using Technology to Build Better Businesses Relationships
Technology already has well-documented utility in internal team building as well as customer-facing small business activity. Nectar iQ bridges the gap between the two by providing supply chain visibility and comprehensive workforce composition across an entire company ecosystem.
The innovative vendor management software offers collaboration tools and real-time insights. These help enterprises create clear, transparent, and efficient relationships with vendors that:
- Align their supply chain with the communities they serve.
- Track geographic impact.
- Ensure their vendor partnerships reflect their customer base.
This kind of seamless vendor oversight was previously inaccessible to resource-strapped smaller enterprises. Now, it empowers growing brands to maintain consistency, adhere to values, resonate with target audiences, comply with regulatory requirements, and capture economies of scale over time.
