Art of Procurement

Procurement 6 is a short podcast from Art of Procurement that publishes in the Art of Procurement feed every Friday morning at 6am US Eastern Time. Presented by a member of the Art of Procurement team, each episode has 6 short segments that summarize the week in procurement. Segments range from procurement tips to podcast summaries, from details of events to news or overviews of blog posts that capture our attention.

“There is always room for negotiation around IT spend. The worst they can do is say ‘no,’ but at least you are making a solid case to improve this contract and your spend as much as possible.” - Logan Furbee, Senior SaaS Consultant at Vendr Most companies are facing rising IT costs and an increasingly crowded supplier marketplace. This means procurement has multiple hurdles to overcome on their path to eliminating SaaS spend waste - driving optimal performance, efficiency, and transparency with technology suppliers.  To explore tactics for overcoming the most common challenges with sourcing and managing IT spend, Philip Ideson and Kelly Barner spoke with Logan Furbee, a Senior SaaS Consultant at Vendr. Logan has negotiated hundreds of SaaS contracts in her own right, and is a strong advocate for transparency as the key antidote to problematic IT spend.  In this episode, they discuss:  How to solve two of procurement’s most important sources of IT spend waste: unused licenses and redundant solutions Top pricing trends and cost drivers for 2024 in IT spend, and how to negotiate the best pricing for the business   Navigating complex stakeholder relationships without sacrificing transparency or undermining the goals of the business  Links: Subscribe to This Week in Procurement Logan Furbee on LinkedIn Watch Again: Driving the Best Business Outcomes From IT Providers

Procurement 6 is a short podcast from Art of Procurement that publishes in the Art of Procurement feed every Friday morning at 6am US Eastern Time. Presented by a member of the Art of Procurement team, each episode has 6 short segments that summarize the week in procurement. Segments range from procurement tips to podcast summaries, from details of events to news or overviews of blog posts that capture our attention.

“Nemawashi is generally something we do on a yearly basis. Is it tedious? Yes. Is it easy? No. Does it take a lot of time? Yes. Is it worth it? Hell yes!” - Réda Guiri, Head of Group Outsourcing & Procurement, Toyota Insurance Services Europe Everyone knows that getting stakeholder buy-in is critical for procurement, but it is not always straightforward – especially in large stakeholder networks paralyzed by red tape, over-thinking, and ‘decision-by-committee.’ Even when procurement does get stakeholder sign-off at some level, expectations and goals can still remain unmet when the final product or service is delivered.  In this episode, Philip Ideson speaks with Réda Guiri, Head of Group Outsourcing and Procurement at Toyota Insurance Services Europe, about the nemawashi method of consensus building. He shares his view about how this approach is often better than the methods procurement has traditionally employed to gain buy-in.    Philip and Réda discuss: What the nemawashi method is, how to implement it, and the benefits it can bring to the procurement process and to the business in general How nemawashi can help procurement navigate the difference between ‘agreement’ and ‘alignment’ in a large, complex stakeholder network Why nemawashi is hard work for procurement, but completely worth the effort in the end Links: Subscribe to This Week in Procurement Réda Guiri on LinkedIn  

Procurement 6 is a short podcast from Art of Procurement that publishes in the Art of Procurement feed every Friday morning at 6am US Eastern Time. Presented by a member of the Art of Procurement team, each episode has 6 short segments that summarize the week in procurement. Segments range from procurement tips to podcast summaries, from details of events to news or overviews of blog posts that capture our attention.

“Given all the things procurement is doing, it does seem that a lot of their work tends to go unnoticed or be undervalued or is boiled down to that one bottom-line savings number. The truth is that procurement is involved with a lot.” - Vishal Patel, VP Product Marketing, Ivalua Even though big events like the pandemic, inflation, global supply chain disruptions, and geopolitical conflict have reminded everyone how relevant procurement is to the organization, the full value procurement offers is still often misunderstood and underestimated.  Why is procurement so frequently undervalued when their impact can be felt across the business, not just to cost or risk management but also sustainability, product innovation, supply continuity, and business strategy?  To understand how shifting mindsets around procurement’s value contribution are redefining their role in the business, Philip Ideson and Kelly Barner spoke with Chris Sawchuk, Principal and Global Procurement Advisory Practice Leader at The Hackett Group, and Vishal Patel, Vice President of Product Marketing at Ivalua.  In the episode, Chris and Vishal discuss:  New opportunities and approaches to performance measurement for procurement’s value contribution beyond cost The deepening value of risk management and the need for nuanced approaches to risk beyond traditional metrics The evolving role of generative AI and emerging technologies as procurement’s “co-pilots” in delivering value   Links: Subscribe to This Week in Procurement Chris Sawchuk on LinkedIn Vishal Patel on LinkedIn Watch Again: Redefining Procurement’s Value and Shifting Mindsets Read: Generative AI and the Future of Procurement Value Creation

Procurement 6 is a short podcast from Art of Procurement that publishes in the Art of Procurement feed every Friday morning at 6am US Eastern Time. Presented by a member of the Art of Procurement team, each episode has 6 short segments that summarize the week in procurement. Segments range from procurement tips to podcast summaries, from details of events to news or overviews of blog posts that capture our attention.

“We have to incentivize the supplier to collaborate with us in a way that creates a different way of doing something – it might take us all out of our comfort zones, but it’s going to deliver a better outcome.” - Gordon Donovan, Vice President Research - Procurement & External Research at SAP Services procurement makes up a large percentage of most organizations’ spend and it is a key driver of enterprise growth and performance. At the same time, a recent global study conducted by Art of Procurement and SAP revealed that this category presents serious challenges for procurement leaders and is primed for improvement. To better understand these challenges and opportunities, Philip Ideson speaks with Gordon Donovan, Vice President Research - Procurement & External Research at SAP, about the research findings.  In this episode, they discuss key findings from the study and one-on-one follow-up interviews: Why ‘services procurement’ is a slippery term for some, and how it should ultimately be defined How procurement can leverage services spend to move from a tactical or administrative role to one where they strategically partner with the business The most egregious mistakes global procurement leaders are currently making when it comes to services spend (and how to correct them) Links: Gordon Donovan on LinkedIn From C-Suite Priority to Procurement Strategy: Managing Risk at Scale w/ Gordon Donovan and Matthew Montgomery Subscribe to This Week in Procurement  

Procurement 6 is a short podcast from Art of Procurement that publishes in the Art of Procurement feed every Friday morning at 6am US Eastern Time. Presented by a member of the Art of Procurement team, each episode has 6 short segments that summarize the week in procurement. Segments range from procurement tips to podcast summaries, from details of events to news or overviews of blog posts that capture our attention.

“I think a large part of the ESG model is about bringing each other up together – capacity building – and learning from each other.” - Adam Hunt, Global SVP Procurement & Subcontracting, Exyte While ESG is becoming a top-line priority for the C-suite, the regulations, laws, expectations, and concepts underlying ESG are still relatively new – new to procurement and to the business as a whole. They can be challenging to pin down.  ESG is broad and complex, with each region, industry, or organization defining and measuring success in different ways.   Philip Ideson recently had the opportunity to speak with Adam Hunt, Global SVP Procurement and Subcontracting at Exyte, about the most important issues driving the current conversation around ESG and how procurement can evolve and elevate their ESG programs to meet the increasing interest coming from company leadership.  Along with a discussion of AI’s role in all this, they also discussed:  How to build a globally successful ESG program by understanding regional and cultural differences and regulations How to use data to power your ESG program The art of setting ESG targets that balance the attainable with the aspirational Links: Adam Hunt on LinkedIn Subscribe to This Week in Procurement