Get a clearer view of where your procurement spend is going

Spend Analytics Outsourcing Services

Most procurement organizations aren't short on spend data. The problem is getting that data into a shape procurement teams can actually work with. It usually lives in several places: ERP systems, purchase orders, invoices, contracts, supplier records and spreadsheets. Supplier names don't match from one system to the next. Categories aren't standardized. Comparing transactions across business units or locations becomes hard work. So even basic procurement questions are hard to answer. Where are we spending? Which suppliers get the most of it? What's going on with maverick and tail spend? Where could we consolidate or save?

KEPLER Advanced Analytics provides Spend Analytics Outsourcing Services that help procurement teams structure their spend data, analyse it and keep using it. We bring together procurement knowledge, data analytics, automation and advanced analytics to turn scattered spend information into procurement intelligence teams can act on.

The problem

When procurement spend is difficult to see

Spend data is fragmented

Spend data tends to be spread across systems, business units, suppliers and transaction types. Until it's brought together, building a reliable picture of total organizational spend is a struggle.

Supplier and category data is inconsistent

One supplier can show up under several names. Similar purchases can land in different categories. Both make it harder to compare suppliers, analyse categories and make sourcing decisions.

Tail spend remains difficult to control

Large strategic suppliers usually get attention. Smaller suppliers and low-value transactions are much harder to manage. Left alone, this tail spend builds into a real source of supplier complexity, fragmented purchasing and missed savings.

What we do

Spend analytics capability without building the team internally

Add analytics capacity when you need it - Getting deeper visibility into procurement spend doesn't require a dedicated in-house spend analytics team. KEPLER Advanced Analytics can handle the analytical work alongside your procurement team, covering data preparation, supplier classification, spend analysis, dashboards and recurring reporting.

Outsource the work, keep control of the decisions - Sourcing, supplier and commercial decisions stay with your procurement team. We supply the data preparation, analysis and procurement intelligence behind those decisions. Your internal team spends less time cleaning spreadsheets and building reports, and more time acting on what the data says.

What you receive

Analytics that keeps moving

Spend data preparation & classification

We clean, structure and classify procurement transactions so spend can be analysed consistently by supplier, category, business unit and location.

Supplier spend analysis

See how much the organization spends with each supplier, where supplier concentration exists and where consolidation may be worth a closer look

Category spend analysis

Break down spending by category, sub-category, business unit and purchasing area to find openings for sourcing and category management.

Tail spend analysis

Find fragmented low-value spend, long supplier tails and purchasing patterns that could benefit from consolidation, controls or a different sourcing approach.

Spend analysis dashboards

Interactive spend analysis dashboards give procurement and management teams a clearer view of spend, suppliers, categories, trends and opportunities.

Automated spend analysis

Where it makes sense, we automate data preparation, classification, reporting and recurring spend analysis to cut down repetitive manual work.

Spend analytics services built around procurement decisions

Spend analytics is worth more when it ties directly to the decisions procurement teams have to make.

Good spend analysis should help answer questions like these:

Which categories have the largest spend?
How much spend sits with a small number of suppliers?
Where do several business units buy similar products or services?
How much spend falls outside preferred suppliers or contracts?
Which suppliers should be looked at for consolidation?
Where is tail spend adding unnecessary complexity?
Which categories could offer sourcing or negotiation opportunities?
How have supplier and category spend changed over time?

Our procurement spend analysis services are built around questions like these, not around producing a static spend report.

Book a 60-minute working session

Bring a real business question, report or dataset — we’ll show you how KEPLER would approach it, with no obligation.

Book a 60-minute session

Where we start

A focused, low-risk first step

Outsourcing doesn't mean handing over your whole spend analytics function.

We can begin with one defined requirement and work alongside your existing procurement or analytics team.

Common starting points:

A supplier spend analysis
A category spend analysis
A tail spend analysis
A fragmented spend database that needs classification
A manual procurement reporting process
A spend analysis dashboard
A sourcing opportunity that needs better spend visibility

The first goal is a useful, reliable view of spend. From there, support can grow into supplier performance, sourcing opportunities, category intelligence and ongoing procurement analytics

What spend analytics can help procurement understand

A strong spend analytics solution does more than show a total spend number. It shows the structure behind that number: who is being paid, what is being bought, where it's being bought, how often, and how purchasing behaviour shifts over time. That's where spend intelligence earns its keep. Rather than looking at procurement transactions one at a time, teams can see patterns across suppliers, categories, business units and purchasing channels. Those patterns then feed into sourcing decisions, supplier negotiations, category strategies and procurement improvement initiatives.

Where it applies

Where this work applies

Direct Procurement

Analyse supplier and category spend across materials, components and other direct purchasing areas.

Indirect Procurement

Understand spending on professional services, IT, facilities, MRO, travel and other indirect categories.

Strategic Sourcing

Use spend analysis to set category baselines and flag areas that need deeper sourcing analysis.

Supplier Management

Analyse supplier concentration, purchasing trends and spend relationships to support supplier management.

Procurement Operations

Get better visibility into purchasing behaviour, reporting requirements and procurement processes.

Multi-location Procurement

Pull together spend across business units, countries, plants or locations for a more consistent view of organizational purchasing.

How we work

From business question to dependable analytics

Understand

We get to know the procurement requirement, the current spend reporting process, the data available and the decisions the analysis has to support.

Connect

We identify and connect the relevant spend sources: ERP systems, procurement platforms, purchase orders, invoices, supplier records and spreadsheets.

Clean & classify

We clean the data, normalize supplier information, structure transactions and apply the required category or taxonomy classification

Analyse

We analyse spend at the supplier, category, business-unit and transaction level to surface patterns, exceptions and areas worth further procurement investigation.

Improve

We automate recurring analysis, refine dashboards and extend the analytics as procurement requirements evolve.

Outcome

More procurement capacity. Better spend visibility.

Outsourcing spend analytics isn't about producing yet another procurement report. We do the analytics work. Your procurement team uses the intelligence to make sourcing, supplier and commercial decisions. With the right spend analytics support, you can:

Build a more consistent view of organizational spend
Improve supplier and category visibility
Identify tail spend and fragmented purchasing
Reduce manual spend reporting
Support sourcing and category management decisions
Track changes in procurement spending over time

SpendVisible

SuppliersUnderstood

OpportunitiesIdentified

DecisionsSupported

FAQ

Common questions

What is Spend Analytics Outsourcing?

Spend Analytics Outsourcing refers to the outsourcing of analytics work to a third party analytics team. This work could include Supplier Spend Analysis, Category Spend Analysis, Tail Spend Analysis and associated reporting and dashboards for ongoing analytics.

What are Spend Analytics Services?

Spend Analytics Services – Support the work of your procurement team by analyzing data on suppliers, categories, departments or buying channels. We can prepare data, normalize supplier data, categorize and analyze spend, create reports and even manage and update reports on an ongoing basis.

What is the difference between Spend Analytics and Spend Analysis?

Spend analysis and Spend analytics are often used as synonyms. Spend analysis in procurement is analyzing purchase orders, invoices and other procurement related data. Spend analytics in the other hand builds a platform around spend analysis by providing automated reports and dashboard in addition to data management and advanced analytics functionalities.

What are Spend Analysis Services?

Spend Analysis Services can gather, organize and analyze procurement data to determine spending by Suppliers, Categories, Transactions and Business Units. This data can support strategic Sourcing, Supplier Management and Category Strategies.

Can KEPLER provide Supplier Spend Analysis?

Yes. Supplier Spend Analysis indicates the total spend with suppliers and the supplier concentration, as well as the purchasing trends and possible areas of further investigation by the procurement department.

What is Vendor Spend Analysis?

Vendor Spend Analysis involves the analysis of purchasing and payment data at the vendor level. The objective is to gain insight into the total amount of spending with each vendor, where that spending is taking place and understand the diversity of the vendor base.

How does Tail Spend Analysis work?

Tail Spend Analysis: Most companies do a good job analyzing their top 10% of spend with their strategic suppliers. However, the remaining 90% can often be highly fragmented across hundreds of suppliers conducting small purchases in isolated parts of the organization. Tail Spend Analysis can be used to investigate potential opportunities for supplier consolidation, purchasing process improvements and other cost reduction initiatives.

Can you provide Spend Analysis Dashboards?

Yes. We can also deliver Spend Analysis Dashboards. These display the Supplier Spend, Category Spend, Business Unit Spend and even Transaction Level detail together with key trends and other related procurement metrics.

Can Spend Analytics be automated?

By enabling data preparation, classification, reporting as well as regular analysis of all necessary procurement related data, Automated Spend Analysis greatly relieves procurement departments from tedious repetitive work. However, the amount of automation possible depends greatly on the quality of the data as well as the organization’s technology landscape.

What is a Spend Analysis Platform?

The term “Spend Analysis Platform” refers to the technology environment (software, database, data access etc.) to aggregate, classify, analyze and present procurement spend data. KEPLER can run on existing platforms or even help design the analytics architecture as required by the engagement.

How does AI support Spend Analytics?

In Spend Analytics AI supports the supplier matching, automatic classification of transactions, the detection of anomalies, the pattern recognition as well as the analysis of big data volumes. This is particularly relevant when large volumes of transactions are processed and the data is incomplete or inconsistent.

What should you look for in Spend Analytics Providers?

For assessing a potential provider for your Spend Analytics needs, it is essential to judge their level of expertise in both data and procurement. Their ability to handle different types of data (even very fragmented) as well as supplier- and category-specific structures is crucial.

What should you look for in Spend Analysis Providers?

When evaluating a Spend Analysis Provider, assess their ability to handle data preparation, supplier classification, supplier normalization, analytics, reporting / visualization and ongoing support. Understand the Provider’s understanding of and fit within the organization’s procurement function.

Can Spend Analytics Consultants work with an existing procurement team?

Yes. Spend Analytics Consultants can work alongside procurement, sourcing and category management teams, adding analytical capability without the whole function being outsourced.

Supply Chain Analytics

A real-time control tower across the chain.

Business Intelligence & Power BI

Governed dashboards and self-service.

Data Engineering & Integration

Pipelines, integration and automation.

AI & Advanced Analytics

Predictive, prescriptive and AI-driven models for more complex business decisions.

Data Analytics as a Service (DAaaS)

Flexible access to analytics expertise without building the complete function internally.

Managed Analytics Services

Ongoing analytics support for organisations that need a dependable external capability.

Build the analytics capability your business needs

You don’t have to build every analytics skill in-house. Whether you’re trying to clear a reporting backlog, need extra analytics capacity, have a new use case in mind, or are looking for ongoing support, KEPLER can work alongside your team and take on the analytics work you need help with.

Talk to KEPLER Advanced Analytics Team