The next five
My Predictions for the New Decade Part 2
- Next generation supply management solutions will drive advances far beyond those achieved in the last decade.
- The critical value of spend visibility will finally be universally accepted (as of January 6, 2010, it is not) and its uses (and therefore, the number of those using it) will be greatly expanded. Can you imagine accessing real-time spend information during the sales cycle and working to identify supplier concessions so a discounted deal that maintains margins can close at the end of the quarter? I can.
- Although the green movement within the Global 2000 will become more customer and/or cost-driven (compared to its more altruistic roots), a tipping point in the investment dollars for sustainability will eventually be reached, creating a “Moore’s Law” type of innovation cycle where the benefits of green solutions begin to expand exponentially and broad-based adoption ensues.
- Social media technology will foster the development of an extraordinary array of professional networks that will dramatically improve the productivity, skills, and knowledge of the average worker. If a group of war re-enactors can bond together and bring a major US city to its knees, imagine what a group of engineers, buyers, and suppliers can create when they form a network around a specific category or process.
- The advances made by procurement in response to major business issues (such as globalization, supply risk, market volatility, and innovation), in the last decade when taken in aggregate, were phenomenal. The new decade will bring a wider range of procurement departments making a more significant impact in many major business areas.
Care to share what’s in your crystal ball? Please post a comment in the section below.
