CPO Rising Celebrates One Year Anniversary!

Although we technically started publishing articles on CPO Rising on Jan 1, 2010, we waited until April 1, 2010 to announce its existence to the world; this means that last Friday was, for all intents and purposes, our one year anniversary. The readership and general response has been overwhelming and we continue to see our traffic grow significantly each month (more on that soon). From my perspective, it has been a truly great year here at CPO Rising (and at Ardent Partners); and, I can tell you, in all seriousness, we’re only just getting started.

Thank you for your support and readership, please keep spreading the word, and stay tuned!

eSourcing 2.0 Enacted

eSourcing 2.0: Every negotiation that results in an executed contract should use an eSourcing solution.

I am happy to report that eSourcing 2.0 is very much alive and well as an operating doctrine. I know that many readers probably wonder if I really believe that enacting an eSourcing 2.0 policy is possible. I will admit that I initially developed the concept as a way to ignite a discussion and challenge current industry practices – which continue to support the vast majority of sourcing projects via offline means.

But, to be clear, I very much believe that eSourcing 2.0 is a realistic and wholly-feasible sourcing policy. At some point in the future, running sourcing projects with MS Office tools (Word & Excel) will be akin to doing ROI calculations with an abacus.

PROOF POSITIVE: Last week, I came across another company that has (recently) enacted an eSourcing 2.0 policy. In a discussion with a director of sourcing at a large retailer, I was told that “We eSource everything. Period.” To which I asked “when you say everything, what do you really mean?” Answer: “We eSource everything. If there is a contract, we use eSourcing. Period. Why wouldn’t we? This policy has made us wildly successful.”

This company is not the only one using an eSourcing 2.0 policy to great benefit. What are you waiting for?

Still not convinced? I will gladly host a call with any sourcing leadership team that is interested in better understanding or pursuing eSourcing 2.0 – just drop me a note.

Tagged in: CPO Shop Talk, eSourcing