UPDATE: The webinar discussed below is now available by clicking the following archive link (registration required).
The fall event season has officially begun. Accordingly, I will try to update you on the different in-person and online events that I will be joining as a participant/presenter.
One major theme that I have been working on this year (and you’ll be seeing this fall) has been the development of tools and templates to help sourcing and procurement teams improve and accelerate their solution selection processes. For most groups, this begins (and unfortunately for some, ends) with the business case. The development and delivery of a compelling business case for an investment in supply management solutions can be difficult and time consuming, even if the elements of the case are fairly clear-cut.
Reasons why I believe a focus on business case development is an important topic in Q4 2012:
- Supply management solutions, in general, are more accessible than ever before
- Supply management solutions have seen a broad expansion in usability and functionality
- Supply management solutions are more affordable than just a few years ago
- Ardent Partners research, my direct experience, and conversations with hundreds of sourcing/procurement executives have all shown that the returns on supply management solutions (when well-deployed and fairly-used) are generally superior to an investment in other enterprise-level solutions
- More enterprises are sitting on more cash than at any other time this past decade
- Despite the cash, enterprises remain hesitant to invest in new projects
- Despite the fact that solutions are cheaper, better, and easier to deploy, decisions are taking longer and longer because project teams are more cautious and afraid to make big decisions (i.e. select a solution)
Because of all of the above, Chief Procurement Officers and their departments are in greater need of validation of their decisions (and their business cases).
To that end, next week I will be delivering a webinar – Case Closed: How to Build a Winning Business Case in Seven Easy Steps (registration required) that is sponsored by GEP. It is the first in a two-part series.
Here’s the official description:
With heightened competition for internal budgets, resources, and mind-share, decision-makers today require clear and compelling business cases.
Join Andrew Brabender, Director of Sales, GEP, and our guest, Andrew Bartolini, Chief Research Officer, Ardent Partners, in this one-hour webinar to view:
- Ardent Partners’ seven-step framework to build a case for investment in procurement technology
- Strategies and approaches that best-in-class leaders have used to gain executive approval
- Recommendations on the best approach and positioning of the final business case
This webinar will be helpful to those contemplating an investment in procurement automation, as well as those who have already begun their journey.
As a bonus, attendees will be awarded credits toward their continuing education requirements by the Institute for Supply Management (ISM). You can earn credits fully applicable to C.P.M. recertification, CPSM and A.P.P. reaccreditation.
Date: Wednesday, October 10, 2012
Time: 2:00 PM EDT
Duration: 60 minutes, with live Q&A
Tagged in: Events, Solution Providers, Technology
