Boston in June is a great place to be…. But this year, Boston in November is the place for all CPOs and those that aspire to the role to be too. That’s because Ardent Partners is hosting its annual CPO Rising 2017 Summit on November 8 and 9 at the historic Harvard Club in Boston’s Back Bay district.
Did you miss last year’s event – Take two minutes and watch the video below to see what you missed.
This year, we are expecting between 125 and 150 global Chief Procurement Officers and other procurement executives to attend this day and a half executive symposium that will be a valuable source of best practices, new and powerful ideas, and the latest trends and research that all contribute to Best-in-Class performance. The event is also a stellar way to make great contacts with other industry leaders, which is increasingly important in the era of shorter average job tenures.
Anyway, I write today to proudly announce the theme for this year’s conference: “Tools of the Trade.” If it sounds familiar, that is because it is also the theme of our annual State of Procurement 2017 study (we like synergies as much as the next organization). Many of the report’s key findings are being used to inform the Summit’s agenda.
One premise that will underline the conference is the gap between successful users of technology and those that either struggle to drive real value from their investments and those that simply avoid tech. When CPOs were asked to rate the impact that a long list of external factors will have on the procurement profession over the next five years, “supply management solutions” were rated as the one most likely (83%) to have either a significant or very significant impact. Innovation (82%) and supply risk (77%) were the next highest ranked factors. Additionally, 68% of all procurement leaders believe that predictive analytics and other “smart” technologies will have a similar impact on the profession. Finally, Ardent Partners research now shows that those that have adopted and successfully deployed a supply management solution are nearly three times as likely to deploy another complementary solution. Seeing is believing…
Supply management technology offers great potential, but many organizations fail to attain it. In fact, the ability to “leverage technology to drive business value” remains a challenge for most procurement departments. Since 63% of CPOs believe that their procurement departments are short-staffed, the ability to use technology to among other things, help scale resources, gain greater visibility, and make smarter decisions becomes a critical competency. Over the past decade, supply management solutions have become more affordable, more usable, and easier to deploy. The procurement teams that are successful in deploying solutions and driving user adoption see, on average, more compelling returns than other functional teams (i.e. HR, finance, etc.) do from their technology investments. Procurement departments cannot afford to wait for the current generation of less tech-savvy staff to retire before using supply management solutions to drive greater value. Deliberate plans should be set in motion this year to improve this capability. Attending the conference will provide traditional and leading edge ideas for your teams to do just that.
Tickets are on sale and early bird pricing is available until July 31 – Don’t wait!
Hope to see you there!
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