As companies expand into new markets or add new products to their set of offerings, they face a new and varied set of challenges. Companies now have a more global competitive landscape, where information on customers, products, suppliers and finances can be the key to good - and, all too often, bad - decisions. The quest to become more competitive through the more effective use of their data resources is driving organizations to take another look at their data management practices.

At the same time, many companies have invested in various procurement systems in an effort to improve procurement processes. Current procurement systems don't meet organizations' most pressing procurement needs - to create and implement the best sourcing strategies.

To succeed in getting more control over corporate spend, companies need:

• Accurate information about items purchased and supplier quality, timeliness, performance, price and even technological advancement
• A method to rank suppliers based on the information most important to them
• Flexible, business-focused strategies designed to deliver continual cost savings

The DataFlux Accelerator for Commodity Coding provides a vital first step in this process. By assigning industry-standard classification codes to product information, companies can develop fundamental way to analyze and manage data - and realize more intelligence from their product data.