Ardent recently completed its sixteenth annual CPO-themed market research study, “The State of Procurement & the CPO”, which is part of an ongoing dialogue that my team and I have had with Chief Procurement Officers (CPOs) and other procurement leaders for more than a decade. Over the next few weeks, we’ll be discussing the results from this year’s study in a series of articles on this site. If you’d like access to this report, make sure to register for our newsletter with a business email address.
Beyond process capabilities, procurement’s ability to use data to make better decisions and drive greater value continues to expand. The concept of an intelligent procurement department is not dependent upon a single technology, process, or strategy but rather an ecosystem of interconnected and interdependent plans, solutions, and innovations whose whole is greater than the sum of its parts. Whether in procurement, supply chain, or another business discipline, truly intelligent teams rely upon a few common elements: collaboration, communication, best practices, automation, data, data management tools, algorithms, and analytics.
With the rise of business process automation tools, cloud-based applications, mobile solutions, connected devices, and Big Data permeating the modern business environment, more data is being created within procurement each year and organizations have an extraordinary opportunity (and responsibility) to capitalize on it.
In 2021, a majority of procurement organizations are using data to drive and execute sourcing projects (62%) and otherwise guide executive decision-making (55%). Linking data intelligence to important decisions is where the rubber hits the road in value creation within systems today and where top-performing organizations focus their efforts. Processes and outcomes can be improved when key information or intelligence is presented to the professional directly in the context of that person’s specific activities, responsibilities, and decisions.
In 2021, 46% of all procurement teams have an active Big Data strategy/program. Yet, most CPOs acknowledge that more work and investment is needed before the huge opportunities that exist in this area can be realized. More specifically, a majority of these leaders believe that supply management technology, predictive analytics, and data science applied to procurement’s Big Data will have a significant impact on their operations.
If you are interested in learning more about the key procurement and CPO data collected in our annual research study, consider listening to Ardent’s brand new “Procurement Rising” podcast series. Click below to listen to new episodes. The podcast is also available on Apple, Spotify, Stitcher, Google, or wherever you get your podcasts.
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