Publisher’s Note: Today’s article is a preview from our recent report, Spend Analysis: The Foundation for Procurement Excellence, sponsored by SpendHQ. Interested readers can download this report by clicking here (registration required).
Within the world of procurement, it has never been more important for procurement teams to harness the power of their data and transform their functions into true hubs of intelligence and performance excellence. Procurement departments that utilize automated spend analysis solutions to achieve enterprise-level spend visibility have a truly powerful asset that can be used to drive strategic planning, refine operational focus, and improve business results. But unfortunately, the deployment of automated spend analysis solutions is still not widespread in 2017, with a little more than half of Chief Procurement Officers and their departments reporting their adoption. As a corollary, not all procurement teams are able to leverage their spend data for maximum performance, savings, and value. But a small percentage of departments are leading the way.
The performance advantages achieved by Best-in-Class enterprises have been driven largely by an amalgamation of efforts, ranging from core spend management strategies and capabilities to fundamental procurement principles. However, the fundamental lever in the performance gap between these Best-in-Class procurement organizations and their peers is their complete visibility into enterprise spend driven by their use of spend analysis. Best-in-Class procurement departments, who are almost 2.5 times more likely to have enterprise-level spend visibility, use this powerful asset to drive strategic planning, refine operational focus, and deliver superior business results. As a result, gaining – and leveraging – visibility into enterprise spend is foundational for Best-in-Class procurement performance.
The best way for CPOs and procurement teams to gain visibility into enterprise spend is by adopting and consistently leveraging automated spend analysis technologies that perform much of the heavy lifting and aid practitioners in the collection, management, and analysis of spend data. But not all spend analysis solutions are built the same, which is why Ardent Partners has put together selection criteria to help CPOs select the best solution that meets their needs.
- This report will provide readers with the case for spend analysis technology, including clear benefits, like the ability to measure procurement’s performance, expand the sourcing pipeline, and holistically assess procurement’s function.
- This report will also provide readers with a core set of criteria for choosing an automated spend analysis solution, including 1. Robust data mining and extraction, 2. Cleansing, classification, and enrichment capabilities, and a half dozen other criteria.
- Finally, this report will provide readers with a set of recommendations distinct from the solution selection criteria that take a holistic view of the people, processes, and technologies that will help elevate an enterprise’s procurement performance.
This report is chock full of great insights and we are merely scratching the surface. To access the full report with all of the criteria and recommendations, click here (registration required).
And, if you’ve got 15 minutes to share your experiences and insights, you can help us define 2017 Best-in-Class procurement performance. Take the CPO Rising 2017 State of the Market Survey!
RELATED RESEARCH
Spend Analysis: The Foundation for Procurement Excellence (Webinar)
Advanced Sourcing and Procurement Technologies: Advanced Spend Analysis
CPO Rising 2016: How the Best-in-Class Leverage Spend Analysis for Superior Performance
The Path to CPO Isn’t Better Spend Analysis (Guest Post)
How Source-to-Settle Solutions Manage (and Leverage) Big Data – Spend Analysis
How New or Improved Technologies Can Transform Procurement – Spend Analysis and eSourcing
