QAD Inc has announced the signing of a partnership with Basware, the source-to-pay solution provider. Basware will provide QAD customers access to what it claims is the largest electronic (e-invoicing) network.
What isn’t clear from this announcement is the level of integration between the two systems. How deep does it go and is it available now. Mikko Pilkama, senior vice president of Basware Network and Financing Services explains more in saying: “We are equally excited about this strategic partnership and see that QAD is showing the way to the ERP industry by embedding Basware Network as an integral part of their offering. We are confident that e-invoicing will provide significant efficiencies and advantages to QAD’s vast global customer base.
“QAD customers can enjoy a totally seamless integration of their ERP system and Basware Network service using the latest state of the art REST API technology, get access to over a million companies across 100+ countries, and link themselves with more than 250 interoperability partners across the globe.”
Basware already integrates to more than 250 ERP applications. It has deep integrations with SAP, Oracle and Microsoft ERP. For QAD customers once the integration is complete there could be significant advantages. Basware estimates that a company and its supply chain fully integrated using P2P and e-invoicing can decrease costs, increase compliance and improve cash flow significantly. An example of thiis s McDonald’s Germany which cut 13 days from its processing time having eliminated paper from its invoicing process. It handles 270,000 invoices from 30,000 suppliers.
What does this mean
This is a sensible partnership for QAD. Basware is in the leader sector of the Gartner quadrant for P2P companies. QAD are unlikely to partner with SAP and do not appear to have yet integrated with Coupa. The latter supports integrations using REST API’s as well so it is possible that they will add another integration.
For Basware this is an opportunity to expand its customer base significantly with access to the QAD customer base. There is no indication of additional costs from either QAD or Basware for implementing the solution. Companies will need to assess the advantages in implementing e-invoicing across their customer base. However, there is no indication that the partnership includes any cross marketing or cross selling initiatives.
Anton Chilton, QAD Chief of Global Field Operations commented: “This strategic partnership with Basware will allow QAD to provide its customers with access to a best-of-breed solution to exchange electronic invoices with their customers and suppliers.
“An increasing number of companies globally are implementing e-invoicing initiatives and regulations. We view the rise of e-invoicing as an opportunity for global manufacturers to achieve higher levels of automation and an opportunity for QAD to help our customers with their journey toward the Effective Enterprise.”
