Frequently asked questions
Looking for something?

Implementation

The answer is – whenever you are ready. Cirtuo can complete the technical setup, including uploading the basic spend data and registration of users, within two weeks. A Cirtuo expert will conduct an initial technology training, consisting of up to 10 online sessions, familiarizing users with the handling of the tool and its functionalities. Ideally, this training will be accompanied by creating the first real-life category strategies in the device. This fosters learning and demonstrates the results of working with Cirtuo Guided Strategy Creation™. This initial training program can be completed over 4-12 weeks per the client’s preference.

The essential condition, and critical success factor, to make the introduction of Cirtuo Guided Strategy Creation™ a success is a commitment from the procurement leadership team. To communicate the importance of this move and to mobilize the organization along clearly defined goals and an ambitious yet realistic implementation plan and timeline. Creating positive momentum and excitement at the very start guarantees a successful launch and speedy first tangible results. Make sure the colleagues you count on working with Cirtuo Guided Strategy Creation™ are motivated and prepared to set aside the required time to get on board the Cirtuo speed boat and switch from the old manual process to the new digital one.

Technology-wise, there is nothing special needed worth mentioning.
Data-wise, a reasonable level of completeness and accuracy for the prioritized categories is necessary to ensure that reality is reflected correctly in the primary data of the class. Perfection is neither realistic nor required. “Good enough” data is what is needed to get started with strategy creation.

Perfect spend data is neither realistic nor required. “Good enough” data is what is needed to get started with strategy creation. A reasonable level of completeness and accuracy for the prioritized categories is required to ensure that reality is reflected correctly in the basic data of the category.
In case there are severe issues with the basic spend data, especially with regards to incomplete classification, Cirtuo can help deploy its AI-based spend classifier, which results in unprecedented speed, accuracy, and consistency in classifying spend items into categories.

In some cases, clients chose to engage specialized data management service providers – before or in parallel to a Cirtuo Guided Strategy Creation™ implementation – to improve their spend data quality across the board quickly. Cirtuo can assist in selecting capable service providers for this task if required.
Don’t worry about the category tree; most of our clients didn’t have an optimal category tree before starting the project with Cirtuo.

Your tree needs to reflect your procurement organization’s business needs and capabilities. It’s essential to approach it strategically and develop it correctly regarding priorities, competencies, organization traits, processes, methods, and tools. Therefore, building a category tree that is as optimized as possible should be a strategic activity that can be carried out during your Cirtuo project. Once you enter the strategic process, Cirtuo will help you quickly identify and fill in the gaps in your existing data classification. To support the process, Cirtuo has integrated spend mapping, a functionality that allows your current ERP data to be mapped to the new strategic structure in the category tree. That means your ERP data structure can remain unchanged while you can build a different, strategic data classification in Cirtuo. The final result is increased data quality, which ensures better analysis and reporting. Ultimately, that leads to a better understanding of business requirements, which eases finding an optimal strategy for your categories and suppliers.

The question of “maturity” is often raised, and it may be the most misunderstood aspect in deciding to implement Cirtuo Guided Strategy Creation™. If you consider your procurement organization “immature” or “not mature enough” to engage in strategic Category Management – think twice! It may be true for the traditional manual approach, where everyone needed to master the methodology and know the analytical tools deployed along the process … but that is no longer the case with Cirtuo Guided Strategy Creation™. Barriers to entry, individually and collectively, no longer exist. Maturity will develop over time as a natural by-product of engaging in strategic work, guided and supported by a proven AI-enabled solution. In short, there is no “not mature enough” when it comes to Cirtuo Guided Strategy Creation™.

Conducting a “Pilot” project is one way of getting started with Cirtuo Guided Strategy Creation™. Over 4-12 weeks, chosen by the client’s preferences, we conduct ten online technology training sessions alongside participants to develop their first real-life category strategies with Cirtuo Guided Strategy Creation™. This experience allows one to judge the efficiency of the process and the quality of the outcome – concrete category strategies. Based on these first-hand experiences and insights into the Cirtuo Guided Strategy Creation™ solution, a well-informed decision can be taken on whether to implement Cirtuo Guided Strategy Creation™ or not. If this approach sounds reasonable, let’s set up a “Pilot”!

There’s no correct answer to this question apart from “it depends.” The larger and more complex a procurement organization is, the longer it will take to implement Cirtuo Guided Strategy Creation™ by design. Provided a reasonable project management approach is applied, a period of 6-12 months is what it usually takes to fully implement Cirtuo Guided Strategy Creation™ throughout a procurement organization.

Every implementation of a new tool or process becomes a Change Management challenge. How much of a challenge depends on company-specific aspects, but the nature of it is always the same – requiring some effort and organizational setup to plan and execute.
PMO (Project/Program Management Office) and Change Management skills will be needed, and the critical question is: Do you have those competencies and resources available to orchestrate the implementation process?
If yes, great! You can and will do it on your own.
If not, how much of it can you cover with your resources, how much external support will you need – and for how long?
Cirtuo has built a network of consulting partners and can recommend trusted, certified implementation partners (classical management consulting firms) to provide two options of implementation support:
1) Full Implementation Support: A combination of training, coaching, Q&A, and subject matter PMO with strong Executive Management sponsoring – geared towards 100% user adoption
2) Partial Implementation Support: A combination of training and subject matter PMO – geared towards 60-80% user adoption.

As with the introduction of Cirtuo Guided Strategy Creation™, the essential prerequisite and critical success factor to make it a success is the commitment from the procurement leadership team. It simply doesn’t work bottom-up.
Maximizing user adoption should be a prime objective for every client of Cirtuo Guided Strategy Creation™, and we are here to support you. Please make full use of the solution’s functionalities and roll it out across the entire procurement organization to maximize the value you get out of it. We will stay close to you after the introduction, regularly meet for progress reviews, and assist you in detecting early warning signs to take countermeasures as quickly as possible. Maintaining momentum is as challenging as creating it in the first place.

Before concluding Cirtuo Guided Strategy Creation™ usage, your company will be advised and have enough time to generate reports for archiving purposes, which is quickly done with Cirtuo’s presentation/reporting module. After that, we will give your company all its data stored in the database.

Upon request from your company, we will then delete all your data from AWS servers and a backup system and let your company’s security expert monitor the process.