Minimise Van Lanschot Kempen's risk management with ISPnext

Peggy says: "We started implementing ISPnext in 2015. At that time, we were using another system, but it was not fully aligned with our desire to roll out vendor management organisation-wide."

Furthermore, Van Lanschot Kempen's procurement department needed to:

• Make contracts insightful and accessible organisation-wide
• Be able to trace back who is responsible for which contract
• Measure and increase contract compliance
• Be able to make an ABC analysis
• Be able to justify procurement expenditures to the DNB, EBA and NRA
• Be better at risk management

Because Van Lanschot Kempen applies business driven procurement, an overview in spend and contracts is essential. Peggy: "If you enter into a contract with a supplier, it often does not surface again until there is reason to do so or if it is about to expire. We had a great need to make our contracts easily accessible to all involved. Thanks to ISPnext, we can check contracts more easily and get an automatic reminder before a contract expires."

Peggy was personally involved in the implementation process of the new software. "Switching to a new system is always exciting," Peggy says. "When you switch from one system to another, you always lose something, too." We were familiar with the old system and suddenly had to work with a new system and new dashboards. Certain information, such as our contract numbers, were not initially visible in the application. Fortunately, by working with ISPnext, we were able to extract all the numbers from our old system and import them into our new system."

In ISPnext, Van Lanschot Kempen uses the Spend, Contracts and Vendor Rating features. "ISPnext has a tremendously user-friendly and clear system. I am quite visually inclined myself and ISPnext scores high on visuals. For example, for each contract, I can see from green coloured bullet points whether we are compliant," says Peggy.

In addition, contract managers can view the contracts assigned to them. Peggy: "Since that doesn't always happen yet, we print out reports for them which is, fortunately, very easy within Vendor Management. I can select some fields, such as type of contract or expiration date, and I can see if an exit plan is available. These reports give us immediate insight into what actions need to be taken."

Van Lanschot Kempen also gives many internal presentations about the solutions available from ISPnext. "We do that because we want everyone to consult the system," Peggy says. “Within the modules, we can work with user profiles that allow us to give each employee certain authorisations. That way, we can ensure that employees see only what they are authorised to view."

Currently, Van Lanschot Kempen is in the implementation phase of the Supplier Portal part of the Linked plan.

On the basis of interviews and conversations, the requirements of Van Kempen Lanschot for the Supplier Portal are mapped out by ISPnext. "This way, we can clearly indicate what we want to do with the Supplier Portal, and then ISPnext shows us immediately how we should deliver that," Peggy says.

After the banking crisis, the financial sector implemented extensive new rules and regulations. Financial institutions are assessed for risk management and are required to be able to demonstrate whether, and if so, which exit strategy is in place for each contract.

"Earlier this year, we sat down with ISPnext to discuss how we use the system, what we run into and what is on the agenda," Peggy says. "We are now particularly working on amended laws and regulations, monitoring and reporting. We are very happy that this is now facilitated within the solution."

Van Lanschot Kempen can specify for each contract whether:

• a risk assessment was performed
• this contract is in scope of De Nederlandse Bank
• an exit plan, exit section and exit strategy are in place

The organisation is now able to clearly and conveniently show these details in an audit. "Of course, these fields are not equally important for all contracts," Peggy explains. “But with large SaaS or outsourcing contracts especially, our customers need to be able to count on us to perform sound procurement as well as monitor and minimise risks."

Van Lanschot Kempen would also like to try to implement these reporting fields in the Supplier Portal in the near future. "If you involve a supplier in your procurement process, it is of course also good to offer insight into this documentation. In addition, we want to set up standard tasks for ourselves, where we can clearly see which documentation is requested annually or what part of the contract needs to be reviewed."

“Now that we use ISPnext, we have more insight into contract expiration and who is responsible for the contract internally. Spend and Contracts are interlinked. This enables us to measure contract compliance, aiming for the highest compliance level. Previously, we were unable to provide such insight,” says Peggy.

"I think the beauty of ISPnext is its wide scope of application for all types of customers. They don't just set themselves up as a government or municipal tool, but they also offer functionalities of interest to any type of organisation. For example, we regularly sit down with ISPnext and other customers to discuss what is on our minds and how ISPnext can further facilitate us. The system also comes out with new releases regularly which incorporate specific customer preferences. It is a passionate group that helps us in a real way."

The organisation operates in the financial sector and is therefore subject to the financial laws and regulations that apply within this sector.

Within Van Lanschot Kempen, the Procurement Department falls under ‘Service Centre Procurement Contract Management & Facilities’. The department consists of one contract management team lead, two buyers and five contract managers, with a total of 6.5 FTE.

Peggy Klingers is the contract manager, leading her team of two buyers and five contract managers. On a daily basis, she and her team use ISPnext to analyse procurement spend, understand contracts and comply with laws and regulations.