Onboarding software demonstrates well. A clean supplier portal, a few green ticks and a dashboard make a convincing half hour. The questions that matter are the ones a demonstration does not answer on its own.
The supplier experience
Suppliers are not your employees. They will not read a manual. Ask:
- Can a supplier complete registration without training or a call?
- Does the portal work in the languages your suppliers use?
- Can suppliers save progress and return later?
- How are suppliers told exactly what is missing or wrong?
Ask to see the supplier view, not only the internal one.
Configurability without customisation
Every organisation’s onboarding is different by category, country and risk. Ask:
- Can your administrators change forms, document requirements and review steps without the vendor writing code?
- Can different supplier types follow different paths?
- How are changes tested and rolled out?
There is a difference between configuration you control and customisation the vendor builds. Know which you are getting.
Verification and evidence
- Which registries and data sources are available, and for which countries?
- How are documents read and checked, and how is accuracy controlled?
- How are near matches and exceptions presented to reviewers?
- Is screening repeated after approval?
Automation you can inspect
If automation or AI is part of the offer, ask:
- What does it do, specifically?
- Who controls the settings and thresholds?
- How are automated suggestions labelled?
- Can a reviewer see why a suggestion was made?
- Where is data processed, and which model providers are used?
Governance and audit
- Can you produce the complete history of a supplier’s onboarding in a few minutes?
- Are changes to sensitive data, such as bank details, controlled with the same rigour as initial onboarding?
- How are roles and permissions managed?
Integration and security
- How does the platform connect to your ERP, procurement and PIM systems? Which of these connections are already in production elsewhere, and which would be built for you?
- How is single sign-on supported?
- Where is data hosted, and how are tenants isolated?
- What security documentation can the vendor share, and which certifications do they hold? Ask for evidence rather than accepting claims.
The vendor relationship
- Who will implement the platform, and how involved is the product team?
- What does a pilot look like, and what will you be able to decide at the end of it?
- How does the vendor distinguish between what is available today, what is configurable and what is on the roadmap?
That last question is a good test of any vendor. At Klyorah we label Skuvet capabilities as available, configurable or requiring integration, and we prefer a structured evaluation to a promise. You can read how that works on our enterprise evaluation page.
