It is time for procurement to come of age by Jon Hansen

“When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things.”

On August 31st this year, we will no longer be accepting new service provider sponsors for the Procurement Insights and Procurement Insights European Union blogs.

As the readership numbers continue to grow at a fast and steady pace, combined with the continuing popularity of the radio show, we have an even greater responsibility to our readership and listeners. This means that an appearance of favoritism or bias – even where none exists, is unacceptable.

I think that this is the right time to make the change official, as I have been slowly moving in this direction for the past couple of years.

For myself, and our European Union Editor Colin Cram, this is a very exciting moment because the market has a real need for a source it can trust to be totally fair, thorough and effective at both informing and empowering readers and listeners.

Even though we are making this change, it does not mean that we do not appreciate the sponsorship support we have received since the flagship blog was launched in May 2007.

I have certainly appreciated the opportunity to provide the up and coming vendors – many of whom are today major players in the industry – with affordable access to an informed and interested audience. I would like to think that we have, in some small way, played a part in helping them to honestly and fairly tell their unique stories.

My belief that everyone had and has a right to be heard as opposed to only those who have the deepest pockets, is the reason our basic sponsorship fee remained at the $250 per year level.

But we live in a new time. One which demands greater and unbiased insight into how the procurement world actually works. As a result, my passion for the industry and commitment to the principles of sound investigative journalism makes this change necessary. Colin shares these same sentiments.

What does this mean going forward?

While we have always been thorough in our research, and outspoken where and when we felt it to be warranted, we will now be able to do so without the potential appearance of conflicts that can, and are often times part of, a traditional sponsorship program involving service providers. I originally had a catchy phrase here, but it appears to have already been taken so what I will say is that our opinions and insights will be driven by the entire industry’s best interests. In short, everyone will have a voice and an opportunity to be heard.

At first this transformation will be gradual, but as we welcome top industry experts and true investigative journalists into the fold, the breadth of our coverage will rapidly expand. This means that we will be able to cover more stories simultaneously, while maintaining the same high standards that have been a hallmark of this blog since its inception.

Once again, thank you to all of the organizations who, over these many years, have sponsored Procurement Insights. We wish you the best.

30