10 Years Ago Today Procurement Insights Was Launched

It is hard to believe that it has been 10 years since I first shared with you, my thoughts regarding the procurement world.

Of course, back then, I think the only people who read my blog – and not even on a regular basis were close friends and family members. Certainly not the 25,000 plus fantastic readers that follow me today.

Recently I was asked which story or post put Procurement Insights on the map.

There were three.

The first was my August 31st, 2007 post The Ariba Interviews: Re-engineering the Future of On-Demand?

It seems that everyone took notice including Spend Matters’ Jason Busch who in a post on his blog wrote the following;

“The good news is that there are other bloggers who are willing to learn more. It looks like Jon Hansen, the author of the above-linked post and a blogger in our sector, decided to not only take Ariba up on their offer to brief him, but to investigate the firm further after his initial discussion. According to Jon, “I went into the first of what became three separate interviews [with Ariba] over a two week period with both an open mind and a flexible ear. Joined on the call by a member of the PR Firm, and an in-house PR representative, I listened to the executive’s responses to my obligatory questions involving the new contract. While interesting to a degree there was very little said that would stand out from any other vendor interview. In short, and to no ones discredit it was another infomercial.”

Jason then went on to write that “executives are typically gun shy about disclosing the same level of non-financial detail to bloggers that they’ll disclose to industry analyst where an established relationship usually exists.” His reasoning is that “bloggers are more likely to ask the hard questions (just as Jon did). And it will come back to bite vendors who don’t fully answer them.”

Based on the above, it appeared that Jason already had a sense even back then as to where this blog was going regarding my coverage of the industry.

The other posts that put Procurement Insights on the map were my September 12th, and September 20th, 2007 two-part series on Virginia’s eVA initiative. Here are the links to those posts; Yes Virginia! There is more to e-procurement than software! (Part 1) And Yes Virginia! There is more to e-procurement than software! (Part 2).

Ironically, it was my earlier referenced Ariba post that prompted Virginia to contact me.

Since then, I have had the opportunity to cover so many great stories while witnessing first hand the evolution of our profession and the industry as a whole.

In this regard, I am grateful not only for the opportunity to do what I love most but the fact that I have the privilege to share my insights with you.

Here is to another 10 years!

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