As I prepare to head out for summer vacation, I thought I’d wrap up the first half of 2024’s “Magnus Mondays” articles with a selection of smaller random rants. For those who know me or have followed my writing over the years, none of these should come as a surprise.
My regular Monday articles will be back in August. In the meantime, we will post some of the most-read articles in a mini “best of” series while I’m away.
So, without further ado and in no particular order:
Solution Providers: Fix Your Messaging and Positioning
The first thing I do when I hear about a new procurement tech solution provider is head to their website. Far too often, I come back without knowing anything about them except they are (like everybody else) going to fix all of procurement’s problems … Please have a look at your messaging and your website from an outsider’s POV, making sure it’s very clear what problem(s) you solve, how you do it, and for whom you do the work. And no, a great user interface and fantastic support services are not differentiating unless you can back it up by specifying why and how!
S2P and Best of Breed are Not Mutually Exclusive
Yes, I did a full series of articles on this last winter (see here for the first article). But I’ve seen this debate bubbling up again with some “experts” claiming that S2P is just not the way it works any longer. While I’ve never been a subscriber to the idea that S2P will be the solution for everybody and everything, I’ve never believed that it isn’t useful for some (or even many) organizations. Use the S2P modules that work for your organization and extend it with specialist solutions as necessary. For some, this will mean a full S2P extended solution with only a few specialists, while for others it might mean only a P2P and sourcing solution followed by a larger number of specialists. Having a backbone of (ideally) natively integrated solutions to support core functionality is a great starting point for procurement digitalization.
Stop Deploying No-PO, No-Pay Policies
While requisitions and POs are often great to have from an automation and compliance POV, they sometimes don’t add value. Yes, it’s possible to create POs for utilities, leasing contracts, and so on, but what’s the point? Why not ensure that you have the technology to support end users correctly so that POs are created automatically when needed and have contract management and AP automation capabilities manage invoices when POs don’t make sense. Come on, get with the times and move on from obsolete No-PO, No-Pay policies that turn procurement staff into PO police-chasing end users instead of focusing on activities that really add value to the organization.
You Need a CoE for eSourcing
I firmly believe that eSourcing is severely underutilized by procurement organizations (I’ve written a couple of articles about it here and here). Even if eSourcing solutions have become much easier to use (there are plenty of solutions available that literally require no training to use), self-service is not always the answer. Using eSourcing beyond the most basic RFP scenarios requires more from the users. Understanding how to set up reverse auction parameters to maximize the results or knowing how to organize a larger sourcing event to leverage combinatorial optimization requires users who know what they are doing. Setting up a center of excellence, even if it’s just one person, that can focus on how to leverage existing eSourcing technology to the maximum extent possible will improve your sourcing operations drastically. It will also allow your category managers to focus on the overall strategy and supplier relationship rather than trying to figure out the sourcing tool they only use a couple of times per year.
That’s it for today. I’ll be back in August, and going by my track record, that is also when the sun will be back! Until then, my Ardent Partners colleagues are here to answer any questions.
RELATED RESEARCH
Magnus Mondays: Procurement Tech — Suites vs. Specialists Part One (Framing the Decision)
Magnus Mondays: It’s Time to Improve eSourcing Adoption
Magnus Mondays — Don’t Leave Money on the Table, Optimize!
Magnus Mondays — The Slow Evolution of eSourcing Is Finally Speeding Up
