Yesterday we brought you the exciting news that eSourcing 2.0 had decided to break from tradition and launch an 11th hour campaign to see if it can win the top spot on the “Chief Procurement Officer’s Agenda” for 2013. Today we return (interestingly, this time to the steps of the U.S. Capitol Building) for part two of the campaign announcement.

I recognize there is a certain presumptuousness – a certain audacity – to this eSourcing 2.0 code but procurement has faced steep challenges before.

The genius of the technology is that they designed a system of can be modeled to mirror almost any off-line or legacy sourcing process. And we should take heart, because we’ve changed procurement before. In the face of ignorance, a band of procurement visionaries brought a procurement leader into the C-suite. In the face of inflation, we renegotiated SLAs and focused on TCO. In the face of depression, we sourced more and saved more.

Each and every time, a new generation has risen up and done what’s needed to be done (well, except for the narcissistic baby-boomers – I kid, I kid). Today, we are called once more – and it is time for our generation to answer that call. For that is our unyielding faith – that in the face of impossible odds, people who love procurement can change it. Let us begin. Let us begin this hard work together. Let us continue to transform this great function, this vital department.

Let us be the procurement generation that propels Chief Procurement Officers regularly into COO, CFO, and CEO [Sidebar: see Tim Cook] roles

And as our economy changes, let us be the procurement generation that ensures supply chain security in an age of globalization.

Let’s be the procurement generation to drive innovation. Let’s be the procurement generation that positively impacts revenue.

Let’s be the procurement generation that automates the entire source-to-settle process.

Most of all, let’s be the procurement generation that says right here, right now, that every negotiation that results in a contract must use an eSourcing tool.

Let’s be the procurement generation that makes future procurement generations proud of what we did here.

I know there are those who don’t believe we can do all these things. I understand the skepticism. That is why this campaign can’t only be about eSourcing 2.0. It must be about us – it must be about what we can do together. This campaign must be the occasion, the vehicle, of your hopes, and your dreams. It will take your time, your energy, and your advice – to push this forward when we’re doing right, and to let us know when we’re not. This campaign has to be about reclaiming the meaning of eSourcing excellence, restoring our sense of common purpose, and realizing that few obstacles can withstand the power of millions of sourcing professionals calling for change.

By ourselves, this change will not happen. Divided, we are bound to fail.

But there is power in eSourcing. There is power in results

That is our purpose here today.

That’s why we’ve begun this race.

Not just to write another CPO Rising article, but to gather with you to continue to transform procurement and take up the unfinished business of perfecting our sourcing processes and building a more perfect procurement department.

Postscript I: This campaign announcement was based upon a “mashup” of the presidential announcement speeches of Ronald Reagan and Barack Obama.

Tagged in: eSourcing, Sourcing, Strategy, Technology, Transformation