Number of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) that sold goods or services to the organization during the reporting period.
Organizations should footnote all assumptions used.
This metric is intended to capture information about the small and medium-sized enterprises that supply goods or services to the reporting organization. Organizations can themselves determine the precise threshold at which they report suppliers. In most cases, organizations should include only those enterprises supplying goods and services that are fundamental to the operations of the reporting organization.
Organizations should not include subcontractors as part of this metric; subcontractors can be reported under Temporary Employees (OI9028) and its related submetrics.
This metric is multi-dimensional with regard to the five dimensions of impact: it may help describe the WHO dimension when the stakeholder group represented by the metric is the stakeholder group targeted by the investment or organization. It may also help measure the HOW MUCH Scale dimension, which helps estimate the number of the targeted stakeholders experiencing the outcome. For more on the alignment of IRIS metrics to the five dimensions of impact, see IRIS+ and the Five Dimensions of Impact (https://iris.thegiin.org/document/iris-and-the-five-dimensions/). No single metric is sufficient to understand an impact; rather, metrics are selected as a set across all dimensions of impact. When possible, the selection of metrics to measure and describe the five dimensions should be based on best practice and evidence.
This is a submetric of Supplier Organizations: Total (PI9566), which has 1 other related submetrics.
Metrics identified as "cross-category" are those that are relevant to any IRIS+ Impact Category or Impact Theme (i.e., these metrics are not specific to any particular industry/category or theme).
June 2022 - IRIS v5.3 Released (current version)
Immaterial change. Minor revisions to definition and usage guidance for clarity.
January 2020 - IRIS v5.1 Released
No change.
May 2019 - IRIS v5.0 Released
Immaterial change. Usage guidance updated to clarify "beneficiaries" as "stakeholders."
March 2016 - IRIS v4.0 Released
No change.
March 2014 - IRIS v3.0 Released
Immaterial change. Minor revision to metric name and definition language for clarity.
November 2011 - IRIS v2.2 Released
No change.
February 2011 - IRIS v2.1 Released
No change.
September 2010 - IRIS v2.0 Released
New metric. Supplier Organizations: Small-to-Medium Enterprises (PI9495) was developed via the IRIS Taxonomy Development Group.
IRIS Metrics Work Better in Sets
To use IRIS metrics—and the resulting data—to understand impact performance, IRIS metrics should be used and analyzed in generally accepted sets and according to well-defined objectives. IRIS+ gives you access to generally accepted Core Metrics Sets aligned to common Impact Themes and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).