SOCIAL CONTRACTING: Opportunities for improvement in sourcing and contracts: A look at Aberdeen’s recent research
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Opportunities for improvement in sourcing and contracts: A look at Aberdeen’s recent research Written by Patrick Stakenas I had the opportunity to read “Strategic Sourcing: Lessons Learned” recently published by the Aberdeen Group. You can download it for free at the following link: http://www.aberdeen.com/research/9814/RR-strategic-sourcing-lessons.aspx/content.aspx
It is interesting that many companies are holding onto old technologies when the proliferation of new technology to support their sourcing environments is abundant. Given the numbers from the Aberdeen survey as well as analytics from Gartner, Forrester, etc., it is puzzling why companies remain reluctant to adapt.
SOCIAL CONTRACTING: Opportunities for improvement in sourcing and contracts: A look at Aberdeen’s recent research
Page 2 Understanding and having a clear perception of your suppliers is now a necessity—mission critical, if you will. Aberdeen’s study indicates, "Gaining greater insight into your suppliers is essential; developing customer vendor relationships requires you both to see each other from a 360-degree view."
The collaboration of contract management and sourcing plays directly into buy- and sell-side visibility. CLM and strategic sourcing are critical components to ensuring visibility. Implementing CLM at enterprise level is crucial to identifying different approaches for finding savings and stopping revenue fall out, while reducing risk, increasing regulatory compliance and supporting sustainable sourcing in the global marketing of today.
Aberdeen discusses "sourcing under pressure" as the ability to mitigate risk while being compliant to contracts and understanding the source-to-payment process, while at the same time managing the increasing pressure for sustainable sourcing. Companies must have the ability to handle pressures and improve vendor/customer insight in order to boost performance. This ability, along with the competence to integrate sourcing initiatives into proper data extraction/collection and to use that data to support negotiations, is what drives the real opportunity.
We see many companies holding onto old ways. This unwillingness to avail themselves of the opportunities is interesting and perplexing, given the data that is available. Most conspicuously, Aberdeen lays out the significant "Opportunities for Improvement" in sourcing and contracts. From where the CPO or CIO sits,it is dangerous to ignore this road map or not acknowledge the key aspects of this collaboration—dangerous and perhaps unwise to manage in an environment of status quo. Linking the attributable elements of suppliers and spend to contracts is not a trend but now a necessity in managing costs, revenue and risk. In our next webinar, we talk about solutions that drive collaboration in contract management with recognized analyst Andrew Bartolini of Ardent Partners. Register by February 18, 11AM ET, to join the webinar on Collaborative Contract Management: Procurement’s Role in Enhancing Compliance and Mitigating Risk. Contact us to learn how you can take your CLM solution to the next level. What will you gain from an enterprisecentric strategy? How will you utilize the intelligence delivered from analytics and collaboration of the buy- and sell-side?
SOCIAL CONTRACTING: Opportunities for improvement in sourcing and contracts: A look at Aberdeen’s recent research
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