Benchmarking Technology Solutions for Purchasing Cooperatives

Thank you for participating in this survey!

Technology is one of the key drivers in today’s marketplace, and NCBA CLUSA encourages all Purchasing Co-ops to leverage strategic software to improve member and vendor management, increase operational efficiencies and recruit more effectively.

This survey, created in collaboration with NCBA CLUSA Associate Member Medullus Systems, is intended to help gather information about how Purchasing Cooperatives use technology today in order to create a baseline for the industry. The results will be shared with your organization so you can benchmark against the baseline.

The entire survey should take less than 10 minutes to complete. If you have any questions, please email Bryan Munson, Manager of Business Development at NCBA CLUSA, at bmunson@ncba.coop or call him at 202-471-0900.

Thank you,

NCBA CLUSA Membership

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* 1. Do you feel you have a strong technology plan for the coming year?

No, we do not need to plan separately for technology

No, we just set a number for IT and go from there

Yes, but from past experiences, the plan never works

Yes, but we are not sure if the plan is sufficient or not

Yes, we have a solid technology plan for the coming year

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* 2. Do you think technology can bring efficiencies to your organization?

Technology is a necessary evil

Maybe, but it comes with a price tag

We have not investigated that yet

Yes it can, but has to be implemented and used properly

Yes without technology our organization cannot function

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* 3. Do you feel that your organization uses IT effectively?

We do not use a lot of IT

We use systems but they are disjointed

We need to use what we have, better

We are leveraging IT quite well in our organization

We are in the cutting edge of technology

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* 4. Do you think you overspend on IT?

No, we are looking to invest more in IT

No, but we are OK with what we have

We spend as per our plan

We overspend but we have no choice

We overspend and aggressively looking to cut IT spent

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* 5. Do you think your organization is up-to-date with the advancements in technology?

No, but we do not need to be caught up

No, and we should do some more research, but do not have the time

No, but we are starting to put more effort into research

Yes, we are caught up, but we can do more

Yes, we are very well caught up and leverage new technology

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* 6. Do you have adequate software to run your operations?

No, and we do not need software to do what we do

No, we should be looking at how software can better our operations

No, but we cannot invest in software at this point

Yes, but we are trying to figure out what else we can do

Yes, we have adequate software to run our operations

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* 7. Do you have good member management software?

No, and we do not need software to manage our members

No, and we should be looking at member management software

No, and we do not know what this means

Yes, but we do not have budgets for this

Yes, we have good member management software

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* 8. Do you feel you have a good website for your organization?

No, but a good website will not help our mission and/or vision

No, and we are not sure what a good website can do

No, and we should be bettering our website

Yes, but we do not have budgets for this

Yes, we have a good website

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* 9. Do you measure the effectiveness of your website?

No, we do not really market through the website

No, but we do not need to measure

No, and we need to figure out how and what to measure

Yes, but we do not have the budgets to change the website

Yes, and are proactive in making changes using data collected

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* 10. Do you have good vendor management software?

No, and we do not need software to manage our vendors

No, and we should be looking at vendor management software

No, and we do not know what this means

Yes, but we do not have budgets for this

Yes, we have good vendor management software

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* 11. Do you have good rebate management software?

No, because we do not collect and distribute rebates

No, and we do not need software to manage rebates

No, and we should be looking at rebate management software

Yes, but we do not have budgets for this

Yes, we have good rebate management software

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* 12. Do you have good CRM software?

No, we do not need any CRM in our organization

No, but we have been discussing implementing a CRM

Yes, but we do not use it very much

Yes, but it does not do what we need to do

Yes, we have a good CRM software

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* 13. Do you measure the effectiveness of your Marketing campaigns?

No, we do not need to

No, and we are not sure how to do that

No, it is too costly and/or time consuming to do and will not add much value

Yes, but we are not sure if the ROI numbers are correct

Yes, we measure ROI from every campaign

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* 14. Do you think your systems are secure?

No, but we do not have a lot of systems

No, but no one would hack an organization like ours

Yes, but we are not sure what security we have

Yes, but that is not managed by us

Yes, we have adequate security and we get regular reports

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* 15. Do you get any ROI reports from your technology provider / IT Department?

No, but we trust them implicitly and we know they provide great value

No, but we do not measure ROI from technology as it is a necessity whether it is valuable or not

No, and I am not sure if that is something that can be measure

Yes, but we do not know what it really means strategically

Yes, and we factor that heavily into our growth and strategy

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* 16. Have you ever engaged with a consultant to do IT strategy consulting for your organization?

No, and we do not require any

No, but we have not had the time to do something like this

Yes, but we did not find much value

Yes, but we did not have the time or budgets to take it further

Yes, and we continue to do such sessions

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* 17. Do the majority of your members embrace technology?

Not sure, we have never asked them

Somewhat, they should take more advantages of the advancements in IT

Yes, but we do not really discuss that with our members

Yes, but they complain about what is out there

Yes, and they are quite happy with what they have

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* 18. In general, do your vendors ever discuss technology with you?

No, we do not discuss technology with our vendors

No, but we should understand how we can integrate better with our vendors

Yes, but it is not something that piques our interest

Yes, and we should be doing more such discussions

Yes, our vendors are well integrated with our systems and we discuss about IT proactively

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* 19. Do you get solicited for software consulting or software development?

No, and we do not need such services

Yes, but far and few in between

Yes, but they do not understand our business model

Yes, we get calls but they are more for our members

Yes, regularly and we would like to hear more about such services

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* 20. Are you open to participating in a focus group with other cooperatives to benchmark technology?

No, we are not interested

No, we do not require much technology in our organization

Yes, but we do not have the time this year

Yes, but we need to understand what this entails

Yes, and we would like to bring other folks into the focus group

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* 21. Does your organization handle billing from vendors on behalf of members, i.e. central billing? If you answer "No" to Question 21, please skip to Question 27.

Yes

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* 22. Does your system require a lot of manual processes?

Yes, we have to manually adjust a lot of things as the system is not a buying group system

Yes, but there are no ways around it

Yes, and we have to figure out efficiencies or another system in due time

Yes, but we are perfectly fine with the manual processes

No, we have very well defined and automated processes

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* 23. Does your system integrate well with vendors?

No, we do not need such integrations

No, but we have good internal processes for handling paper, fax, email

Yes, but we need to work on better integrations

Yes, but we are not sure if it works well as compared to other companies

Yes, we have deep integrations with our vendors

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* 24. Does your system integrate well with members?

No, our members are not interested in such integrations

No, we do not need such integrations

Yes, but we need to work on better integrations

Yes, but we are not sure if it works well as compared to other companies

Yes, we have deep integrations with our vendors

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* 25. Is your software up to date?

We are not sure

No, but we cannot upgrade due to time and budget constraints

No, but it is risky to upgrade such a vast system

Yes, but these updates are expensive

Yes, we are caught up with all the updates

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* 26. Do you have member services (invoices, POs, Sales orders) available on your website?

No, this is not needed

No, and we are planning on getting this done shortly

Yes, but it needs to be updated

Yes, but it is not used very much by our members

Yes, and it functions quite well

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* 27. Do you have vendor services (checks, remittance, credit checking) available on your site?

No, this is not needed

No, and we are planning on getting this done shortly

Yes, but it needs to be updated

Yes, but it is not used very much by our vendors

Yes, and it functions quite well

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* 1. Do you feel you have a strong technology plan for the coming year?

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* 2. Do you think technology can bring efficiencies to your organization?

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* 3. Do you feel that your organization uses IT effectively?

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* 4. Do you think you overspend on IT?

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* 5. Do you think your organization is up-to-date with the advancements in technology?

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* 6. Do you have adequate software to run your operations?

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* 7. Do you have good member management software?

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* 8. Do you feel you have a good website for your organization?

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* 9. Do you measure the effectiveness of your website?

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* 10. Do you have good vendor management software?

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* 11. Do you have good rebate management software?

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* 12. Do you have good CRM software?

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* 13. Do you measure the effectiveness of your Marketing campaigns?

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* 14. Do you think your systems are secure?

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* 15. Do you get any ROI reports from your technology provider / IT Department?

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* 16. Have you ever engaged with a consultant to do IT strategy consulting for your organization?

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* 17. Do the majority of your members embrace technology?

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* 18. In general, do your vendors ever discuss technology with you?

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* 19. Do you get solicited for software consulting or software development?

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* 20. Are you open to participating in a focus group with other cooperatives to benchmark technology?

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* 21. Does your organization handle billing from vendors on behalf of members, i.e. central billing? If you answer "No" to Question 21, please skip to Question 27.

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* 22. Does your system require a lot of manual processes?

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* 23. Does your system integrate well with vendors?

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* 24. Does your system integrate well with members?

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* 25. Is your software up to date?

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* 26. Do you have member services (invoices, POs, Sales orders) available on your website?

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* 27. Do you have vendor services (checks, remittance, credit checking) available on your site?

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* 28. Is there anything that you want to share about your technology needs?