Category Archives: Technology
On Sunday, Indianapolis will rev up for The Indianapolis 500, which is the world’s most famous and prestigious auto race. “The Greatest Spectacle in Racing” covers 500 miles (200 laps) on the 2.5 mile oval track. So what can purchasing pros learn from the Indy 500? The Indianapolis 500 isn’t won in one lap – and an auction isn’t won based on price only. Price is certainly an important factor when choosing the right supplier for your business needs, but … More
Are you taking a gamble and leaving millions of dollars on the table? You could be if you don’t have the right solutions in place… As a modern procurement pro, you know that having the right technology in place is a key component of your procurement strategy. Implementing eSourcing and eProcurement solutions together allows your team to enhance its performance and impact across the entire organization. What else can you do with the right technology in place? You can: Collaborate … 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
After signing a contract, both parties have to protect their own business and value case while they work to achieve a common objective, contractual milestones and specific deliverables. No matter how sound a contract is, what matters in real life is relationship management. Consider the following Top 5 golden rules to avoid pitfalls and create a successful relationship with your service providers … in real life. 1. Success comes from collaboration. Mirror your project model with the service provider’s organization … More
Despite the challenging circumstances of today’s economic environment, you must embrace change in order to support shifting external environments and business strategies. At the same time, you look for opportunities to capitalize on disruptive changes in supply markets, which can drive greater value for your organization. You must become a purchasing hero. What is a purchasing hero? We believe a purchasing hero brings knowledge capital to multiple departments. They inspire collaboration and cross-coordinate with as many internal stakeholders as possible. … More
How are you using procurement data and insight to bring teams together? Procurement and data can dance (and sing) together if you have the proper tools, processes, and strategy in place to support your goals and growth initiatives. More importantly, you need the confidence to build strong internal relationships. What does it take to let the dancing and singing begin? Join Spend Matters, AOL, and Iasta for a live Webinar on Wednesday, March 27 to learn: A history of spend … More
Until recently, governments at all levels have found the market for budgeting tools to be woefully inadequate. Accordingly, most governmental organizations continue to use cobbled-together, Frankenstein-like budgeting tools that, more often than not, rely on users to extract or re-enter data in offline spreadsheets to analyze budgetary policy proposals. Such tools are labor-intensive, inflexible, error prone, limited by the data collected and fail to provide timely, sufficient budgetary insight to optimize resource allocation. In this time of greater public budget … More
Welcome back! Just joining us? Click here to read Part 1. Today, I’m going to focus on how you uncover the underlying business problem(s) to mention when submitting your feature requests. At the surface, such a feature request may seem simple enough. However, we cannot neglect to consider the following: The requested button would do X, Y, and Z. Simple enough, right? Well, don’t forget that X touches A and B, Y touches C and D, and Z touches E … More
How many times have you used a piece of software and thought, “I wish there was a button that did X, Y, and Z…” Or what about, “Why does it work this way, instead of the way that’s more convenient for me?” Trust me, we’ve all been there. Depending on your perceived severity of the question/complaint, you probably acted in one or more of the following ways: Ignored the issue and continued working Complained to your coworkers, friends, or blog … More
Contract management is an important aspect of managing supplier relationships and ensuring that commodities and services are negotiated at the right time. Unfortunately contracts are often managed poorly within a company. Even a smaller company can have hundreds of active agreements, adding up to thousands of contract terms and clauses. As you may know, not one of those contract terms carries much weight if the agreement isn’t monitored and enforced. Procurement Managers know that getting a fair price on goods … 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
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
