Coupa Partners: Stronger and Resilient Together

Roger Goulart
Roger Goulart
EVP, Business Development and Alliances, Coupa Software

Roger Goulart, EVP of Business Development and Alliances, is responsible for extending Coupa Software’s value through partnerships with technology and distribution partners. He brings more than twenty years of sales, alliance, business development, support and professional services management experience to Coupa.

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Coupa Partners: Stronger and Resilient Together

The world was a different place when we launched the first iteration of our global partner program, Coupa Partner Connect, in 2010. In-office work and in-person meetings were standard operating practices, and while remote work was on the horizon, digital transformation was paving the way to support in-person and remote work.

Then everything changed. Technology adoption accelerated at breakneck speed through 2021; according to Forbes, many organizations managed nine years' worth of IT evolution and digital transformation in less than a year.1 As 2022 began, however, enterprises found themselves looking for ways to underpin rapid IT uptake with the functional foundations needed to drive sustained success across both in-person and remote environments.

The result? Exponential growth for the Coupa Partner Connect Program as organizations look to streamline current business spend processes, develop new solutions, and embrace the reality of post-pandemic operations.

Smarter alone, smarter together

As the old saying goes, teamwork makes the dream work. Pre-pandemic, many organizations applied the concept internally to improve efficiencies and create self-sustaining operations — but were reluctant to look beyond office walls for a broader perspective. In a world of public clouds, SaaS solutions, and growing automation, leveraging common tools in parallel — rather than in partnership — was considered a reasonable approach.

But as temporary workplace shifts became permanent and the adoption of automated, intelligent processes became paramount, organizations realized that while they were intelligent alone, innovation happened together with partners and customers. The Coupa Partner Connect Program offered the ideal opportunity for growth for customers and partners. By leveraging trillions of dollars worth of community spend data, partners were able to capture and cultivate intelligence in ways that were previously impossible, in turn creating a flywheel effect — as more solutions spun up, the faster the wheel turned, and more innovations were developed for our customers.

Coupa is committed to continue building out extensive infrastructure capable of meeting increased partner demand and underpinning the push for ongoing creation, innovation, and evolution. We know partners bring valuable experience and expertise to our customers.

Power to the people

Originally procurement-centric, the Coupa Partner Connect program has rapidly expanded to help solve challenges across the organization. What began as a relatively narrow focus has become a full-fledged global Business Spend Management (BSM) platform as both customers and partners have turned to Coupa to create and deploy powerful operational ecosystems.

Today, companies can leverage the innovations and work of our trusted partners across eight core areas:

Implementation

Implementation partners have the experience and expertise to help customers effectively deploy and implement Coupa business spend management solutions across their organization. Strong consulting and procurement practices are hallmarks of our implementation partners.

Payments

Coupa payments partners include financial institutions and payment providers that offer a one-stop-shop for customers' B2B payment needs through Coupa Pay, in turn driving increased value and success with the Coupa platform. Coupa treasury management partners provide additional insights into your bank relationships and analytics for smarter cash and investment management.

CoupaLink Technology

Comprised of both solution providers and independent software vendors, CoupaLink technology partners build solutions designed to extend Coupa platform functionality. From applications to integrations, our technology partners have you covered across 20+ categories — check out the Coupa App Marketplace.

Managed Service Providers

Sometimes we all need a little help. This is the role of Coupa managed service provider partners. Equipped with both implementation and contingent worker program capabilities, these managed service experts can help expand the impact of Coupa Contingent Workforce (CCW). With certified CCW practitioners who can configure the CCW technology into your overall Contingent Worker Program framework.

Management Consulting

Coupa management consulting partners are committed to helping your C-suite make the best decisions for your organization. With experience in solving complex procurement, sourcing, and supply chain questions, these partners can help C-suite teams identify best-fit strategies.

Supply Chain Design

With supply chain challenges continuing to evolve, developing flexible supply frameworks are critical to ensure business continuity and resilience. Our supply chain design partners can assist with specific use cases to streamline operations or take on the task of building out company-wide, AI-enabled supply chains to optimize current processes and lay the groundwork for ongoing success.

Private Growth

Visibility is essential for procurement, supply chain, and spend management success. Coupa private growth partners reach across their managed portfolios to share their best practices for the adoption, usage, and implementation of Coupa solutions to help organizations gain complete visibility into current processes and identify areas for improvement.

Looking Ahead

With thousands of consultants across the partner community — and with no signs of slowing down — it's fair to say that exponential growth is underway. But growth alone isn't enough to drive sustained success.

For Coupa, it's the recognition that we're smarter — and stronger — together.

By allowing partners and innovators to leverage the Coupa BSM platform as a foundation, the Coupa Partner ecosystem fosters a broader approach to drive customer success. Since none of us is as smart as all of us, we recognize that we are smarter and stronger together.

We want to thank our partners for all they have done in collaboration with Coupa. We are committed to our partners and focused on our future.

We are thrilled to welcome our partners back to Coupa Inspire this year — where we will honor the successes they have enabled and delivered at Partner Day. Stay tuned as we announce and recognize the achievements of our trusted global partner ecosystem.

Ready to make your mark? Learn more about Coupa Partner Connect — and see what we're up to on Twitter @CoupaPartners.

Sources:

1 "It’s 2030, Nine Years Early: 10 Years Of Tech Acceleration In 10 Months," Frank Sorrentino, Forbes, 15 Jan 2021.