The spend cube is a multi-dimensional data model that organises a company's spend by supplier, category and business unit — who it is bought from, what is bought and for whom.
Dimensions. The three classic axes are supplier, category and organisational unit (business unit, cost centre, site); time is often added as a further dimension.
Value. Shows where the same service is bought from many suppliers or at different prices, and exposes maverick and tail spend.
Distinction. Spend analysis is the process of collecting, cleansing and classifying data; the spend cube is the result that analysis is run on.
In services. Only meaningful with clean classification; free-text orders otherwise end up in catch-all categories.
Synonyms: Spend Data Cube