A year ago, Canary launched with a simple premise:
If procurement teams could hear from contract end users in real time, they could catch problems earlier and improve outcomes for agency customers.

Twelve months later, we’ve learned a lot about what it actually takes to make vendor management using real-time performance data work in practice.

What We’ve Seen Over the Last Year

Working alongside agencies and higher education partners across the country, a few patterns have become clear:

• Most performance issues don’t start big.
  They begin as small frustrations, missed expectations, or informal complaints that never quite make it back to procurement.

• End users are willing to give feedback. If it’s easy.
  When friction is removed, feedback volume and quality increase dramatically.

• Visibility changes behavior.
  When performance is visible, suppliers respond faster and outcomes improve.

In Florida, for example, one state agency saw vendor performance ratings increase by more than 40% in a single year simply by making performance feedback timely and actionable.

What Worked (and What Didn’t)

Over the past year, we iterated quickly alongside our partners. A few lessons stood out:

What worked

• Real-time alerts when performance dips

• Making it easier for contract managers to request feedback

• Focusing attention on the suppliers that matter most

• Giving procurement teams early signals instead of late surprises

What didn’t

• Relying solely on annual or ad hoc reviews

• Expecting procurement teams to chase every issue manually

• Treating suppliers as outsiders instead of participants in improvement

These lessons shaped what Canary became in its first year. They also point to where it needs to go next.

What Comes Next

On January 21, we launch Canary 2.0 – a new evolution of Canary based on everything we’ve learned over the last twelve months. Canary 2.0 introduces new ways for procurement teams, end users, and suppliers to work together around performance data. With Canary 2.0 we shift from improved performance visibility to coordinated action and measurable improvement.

Join us on January 21 for the Canary 2.0 launch event and see what’s next. Register here: