Microsoft Israel: Global action, local results DIGITAL REPORT 2021
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Microsoft Israel:
GLOBAL ACTION, LOCAL RESULTS
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Moving procurement beyond a bureaucratic function delivers true value, says Eyal Nuhamovici, Sr. Procurement Engagement Manager, Microsoft in Israel
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armony may not be the first word that springs to mind when describing the procurement organisation of a company employing hundreds of thousands of people and operating globally. With businesses of such scale and breadth, procurement leaders often face challenges like siloed information, global versus local objectives, and a variety of other issues to overcome. But Eyal Nuhamovici says Microsoft is different. As the Israel Procurement Engagement Manager at Microsoft, his tasks range from hyper-local to global, and often somewhere in between. “Even though our procurement organisation is spread out across the entire globe, we act as a harmonious team,” he says. “We complement each other.” Like many in procurement, Nuhamovici fell somewhat accidentally into his career. Fresh from military service, a mandatory first step into adulthood and independence for Israeli citizens, he took a buying position at a local SME. But it wasn’t long before Nuhamovici says he began to understand exactly what procurement was, and the impact of being able to “connect the dots' ' between departments to help them further their goals. “Procurement sees the organisation through a very wide angle, across HR, finance, the legal team, any manufacturing or development departments,” he says. “And when you begin to connect the dots
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“ Even though our procurement organization is spread out across the entire globe, we act as a harmonious team” EYAL NUHAMOVICI
SR. PROCUREMENT ENGAGEMENT MANAGER, MICROSOFT ISRAEL
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between departments, that’s when you can think about how to leverage procurement to bring the company to a better position.” This perspective is echoed in the procurement culture at Microsoft. Even in a company this large, Nuhamovici says he is able to make a difference. At the fundamental level, procurement of major categories, such as software, are centralised through Microsoft’s Redmond campus and headquarters in the USA. On the other hand, sourcing local development tools, local communications
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EYAL NUHAMOVICI TITLE: SR. PROCUREMENT ENGAGEMENT MANAGER
contracts and other supporting services are handled by regional procurement experts on the ground. But even here, Nuhamovici says, there is always an opportunity to benefit from global insights. “If we are buying something for the company locally, why not benefit from the RFP and the activities we are doing to derive some more value for the wider company and the employees? You should always strive to secure global contracts, and then complement or supplement those with local services. It is a very balanced situation where
EXECUTIVE BIO
COMPANY: MICROSOFT ISRAEL Experienced procurement manager with vast experience from different organisations - large and small, local and global, large scope budgets and deals, team and matrix management. A proactive and creative person, with excellent negotiation skills, very organised and with high work ethics. Broad commercial perspective that exceeds the area in charge of, hence, bring managerial, economic, commercial and procedural advantages to the company.
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Microsoft in Israel: Global action, local results
I can be part of the activities that are led by headquarters’ procurement managers, while they might join and aid me in my activities.” To reconcile this approach to local and global sourcing, Microsoft employs the latest digital tools - unsurprising given the company’s leading position in both enterprise and consumer technology. “There is a huge emphasis on the topic of digital transformation in procurement at Microsoft, because we really understand the importance of innovation. We use our own technology and approach everything with a growth mindset, considering how to do things better, how to improve the dayto-day.” The earliest objective of Microsoft procurement’s digitalisation journey was to simplify and consolidate buying channels and promote procurement as a seamless experience for stakeholders. 8
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“The innovation comes in technology, by leveraging systems, but it also has to come from new ideas” EYAL NUHAMOVICI
SR. PROCUREMENT ENGAGEMENT MANAGER, MICROSOFT ISRAEL microsoft.com
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Nuhamovici recognises that procurement is often considered as a function that people must engage with, not want to engage with, and we strive to change that. “So we minimise the pain points for shareholders, reduce the amount of buying channels and always think about how to do more with less. It’s about getting to the core of what is really needed. You also want them to spend less time on technical actions; even simple things like streamlining the process of entering a purchase order can improve the perspective of procurement in our stakeholders’ eyes. “They just want to get the work done. So by supporting them with the right tools, we’re accomplishing a lot. We can empower employees to do more by themselves, optimising the process for them, and fixing areas where they may encounter challenges or make mistakes. That’s where engagement is so important.” Better digitalisation both yields and requires more data. In analysing and leveraging that data, Nuhamovici sees the future of procurement moving from a costsaving, streamlining function into a position of predictive and anticipatory power: “To understand, according to what they did already, what they will need in the future.” But there are issues with becoming too reliant on the facts and figures directly in front of you. “If the information or data exists, it’s because something’s already been done, and procurement is always looking ahead at what should be done next, because otherwise there is no real impact,” Nuhamovici says. "Planning ahead is definitely one of the most important things that I spend a lot of time on, whether that’s 10
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HALO BENEFITS FOR SUPPLIERS Monetary gain isn’t the only benefit of working with a market-leader, says Nuhamovici. Suppliers stand to learn and improve their business in the long-term by working in true partnership with Microsoft. “One of the biggest benefits suppliers gain by working with us is learning from the Microsoft culture,” says Nuhamovici. “It can help businesses to modify the way that they think about a certain product or service, and then they can provide a better and improved service, not only to us, but in the wider market. “We really believe that we're adding an additional layer. We’re not changing every business fundamentally, of course, but if we add just one additional layer in the way that things are being done, we can help improve the way that certain businesses operate. When you do business with Microsoft, you can learn from us. We always come with a very innovative way of solving a certain need, and when we achieve that, it can be very important for the market - not just for ourselves.”
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understanding opportunities, looking for new directions, hearing from other peers within the organisation or externally, I’m looking around, and ahead, all the time. “One thing that I think that is underestimated, and not a lot of people are looking at, is trends,” he adds. “They tell you a lot about what is, what was, and what the thoughts of people are at each step. It's like personalising the data, because otherwise data is just data. Looking at a trend, you can now understand what happened with a certain supplier, a certain market, a certain category, or a certain country. I'm really a believer that trends can bring you important insights about the business.
“ When you begin to connect the dots between departments, that’s when you can think about how to leverage procurement to bring the company to a better position” EYAL NUHAMOVICI
SR. PROCUREMENT ENGAGEMENT MANAGER, MICROSOFT ISRAEL
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“You should always strive to secure global contracts, and then complement or supplement those with local services” EYAL NUHAMOVICI
SR. PROCUREMENT ENGAGEMENT MANAGER, MICROSOFT ISRAEL
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“To give you an example, when it comes to engaging with a stakeholder, if you come informed by a trend, you understand their previous actions, in that way, understand what might be interesting for them in the future. If they have $100 and our procurement position can help save them $20, for example, that’s extra money that can be spent on additional services or saved. Those sorts of insights lead to more commercial value than simply handing back some money.” This, Nuhamovici says, will be the biggest challenge for procurement in the years ahead, not just for Microsoft, but in the sector at large. “Innovation comes in technology, by leveraging systems, but it also has to come from new ideas,” Nuhamovici says. “That comes from partnerships and pooling those ideas to pull the market ahead,” he says. “Once you sign an innovative contract with a supplier, it becomes the common practice for the supplier because they learned how to do it. Now they can copy or adjust this idea with future contracts in the market. This is a good example of how you eventually lead and develop procurement to be better positioned and create a larger impact not only on the company you work with, but on other markets as well. “It's a challenge, and that’s a good thing, because when you're being challenged, that is how you improve your ideas. If everything goes smoothly, you never improve, and that to me is quite a beautiful thing.”
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