Category Archives: Sourcing Best Practices
Welcome back! Just joining in? Click here to read Part 1. As many of you know, providing a high level of influence and performance in non-traditional spend categories will require subject matter expertise and skills beyond traditional negotiating skills such as: Strategic thinking and analysis Project / program management Data analysis and modeling Change management and Influencing skills Problem solving Relationship management All of the above business skills are key for sourcing professionals to learn and adopt. While these non-traditional … More
For many Sourcing organizations, especially those at mid-market companies, being involved in Strategic Sourcing of Indirect Spend categories is still a relatively new opportunity… and a challenge! Many manufacturing companies, which have historically had sourcing organizations focused on Direct Material and Capital Equipment purchases, may not have the internal staff or correct Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) to get involved in negotiating and managing indirect expense categories. In fact, sourcing organizations may not even exist at some companies, namely those in … More
In a previous blog, we discussed the use of spend analysis technology as a compliance tool. Today, I want to introduce an additional value that spend analysis can greatly improve—sourcing cycle time performance. In today’s world, spend visibility has become vitally important for procurement organizations to make the right sourcing decisions, especially when there is an increased focus and visibility on driving bottom-line results. With added pressures on procurement teams, often the primary way to improve the bottom-line is to … More
Large companies must maximize the value of their applications environment to compete in today’s business environment. Because Application Development and Maintenance (ADM) is so intricately tied to bottom line results, many organizations seek specialized service providers to ensure best-in-class capabilities. While transitioning to an ADM outsourcing contract requires the staffing and onboarding of a significant set of new skills under a tight time frame, successful staffing remains important long after the end of transition. If not managed properly, this process … More
Jason Winmill is a Partner at Argopoint Consulting LLC. Argopoint has designed legal sourcing approaches for leading Fortune 500 companies that have been nationally recognized by The Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg News, and the Association of Corporate Counsel. This is the fourth and final post of this series. Just joining us? Click here to read Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3 . What’s Next for Legal Sourcing Much has changed in the legal category landscape in just the past … More
Jason Winmill is a Partner at Argopoint Consulting LLC. Argopoint has designed legal sourcing approaches for leading Fortune 500 companies that have been nationally recognized by The Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg News, and the Association of Corporate Counsel. Just joining us? Click here to read Part 1 and Part 2. Best Practices for Sourcing the Legal Category So – how should sourcing proceed? As an attorney and an accomplished sourcing professional, Krissa Kean Spence, Vice President, Strategist and Counsel at … More
Jason Winmill is a Partner at Argopoint Consulting LLC. Argopoint has designed legal sourcing approaches for leading Fortune 500 companies that have been nationally recognized by The Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg News, and the Association of Corporate Counsel. Just joining us? Click here to read Part 1. Why Legal Is Different So, what could be responsible for the “great divide” between those procurement groups actively working on the legal category and those sitting on the sidelines? “When procurement enters a … More
By Ronald Paschen, Partner, ISG Today’s information technology (IT) organizations face a dilemma. On the one hand, the digital economy is accelerating the pace of change in IT. The adoption of emerging technologies, the development of new business models and the consumerization of IT require that it evolve rapidly. On the other hand, IT faces a constant cost pressure and an increasing commoditization of services, which enable new sourcing approaches. In either case, incremental improvements and minor upgrades are not … More
Iasta is pleased welcome a new guest blogger, Jason Winmill. Jason is a Partner at Argopoint Consulting LLC. Argopoint has designed legal sourcing approaches for leading Fortune 500 companies that have been nationally recognized by The Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg News, and the Association of Corporate Counsel. Bustling mid-town Manhattan was the location for a recent conference on collaboration between sourcing and the legal function. On the rostrum, a seasoned sourcing executive from a Global 200 company was sharing his … More
As consumers, we are all flooded with TV ads from GEICO, Progressive and other insurance companies that are providing insurance coverage direct to consumers. In fact, it seems the Gecko is TV’s most famous and recognizable celebrity today (at least he is to me). So, why do these companies sell their insurance products directly to the consumer instead of through insurance agents? The reasons are simple: Increased profit margin A direct relationship with the buyer The intermediary/agent provides little added … More
Many times organizations begin using eSourcing tools with the mistaken assumption that the tool will automatically take care of all the work for them. Communicating with suppliers throughout the eSourcing process is probably the most neglected, yet important, piece of an eSourcing project. One of the biggest mistakes a project manager can make when running an eSourcing event is to publish the project and then wait for supplier responses. The project manager needs to engage suppliers and demonstrate how important … More
It’s easy to get caught up the “go live date” for your eSourcing software implementation. Many procurement leaders believe their team will be empowered to succeed simply by turning on a tool. However, that is not the case. Michael van Keulen from VF Corporation (an Iasta client) shared some best practices and advice at eWorld London for groups who are rolling out new eSourcing software. Michael shared some key elements from VF Corp’s successful eSourcing technology adoption that included: Developing … More
As you and your team are preparing to execute your Procurement strategy for 2013, consider adding these resolutions to your “to-do” list: 1. Tell your sourcing story. Has your team transformed processes or implemented new technologies that blew the socks off senior management? Tell everyone by sharing your sourcing stories. Consider creating a quarterly (or monthly) newsletter or e-mail to distribute to the entire company so you can publicize your successes and impact on the organization’s growth and bottom line. … More
During the hustle and bustle of this year’s eWorld Purchasing & Supply seminar in London, attendees had the chance to tuck-in and listen to Michael Van Keulen, Senior Procurement Manager for VF Corporation, give his insights on eSourcing best practices. Not having the chance to attend this Iasta sponsored talk in person; I was able to watch his entire presentation on Iasta’s YouTube page, IastaInc. In one specific segment, Michael strikes a chord with the audience while talking about eSourcing … More
