First, there was the Commonwealth of Virginia. Now there is Santa Clara County.
Both have achieved amazing things in their respective procurement practices. So much so that I have often referred to them as beacons of excellence in the realms of public sector procurement.
As I watched the following video which was just released on June 14th, I noted that Santa Clara uses SAP Ariba. Why does this matter? (NOTE: click on the image to watch the short video.)
Because Virginia has also used Ariba.
Now some might immediately conclude that Ariba is the common denominator for success and that their technology provides a decided advantage.
For those who have followed me these past 10 years, you know how I feel about technology; while an important piece of the procurement success puzzle, it is not the deciding factor regarding whether or not a successful outcome is achieved. Based on years of experience covering our industry, it has become clear that capable people working together can overcome questionable technology, while good technology cannot overcome questionable people resources.
What is the take away from the Virginia and Santa Clara successes?
Service providers should spend more time on choosing the right clients rather than focusing on winning the business first and worrying about making it work later.
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Procurement Insights 
bmaltaverne
June 27, 2017
Totally agree on that. And the idea applies to more than procurement tech. Except for commoditized categories, a business relationship is more than just a revenue/expense. Many other things participate to a fruitful cooperation. It is important to assess if the partners fit.
Procurement has to move from price => TCO => TVO. Same concept applies to the selling side as a very attractive revenue may be very costly on the long run (e.g. customization, rework, complaints… and brand damage; among many other things). Selecting the wrong partner could make things very costly and not worth it!
So, it is important for both sides to make an informed decision based on more than the financial aspects. Both have the right to say NO and should do so if there are signs that it will not fit.
piblogger
June 27, 2017
Well said, Bertrand.
But here is the qurstion; with pressure from the street for publicly traded companies, and VC pressure for private companies to maximize top line revenue and record account wins, do providers have the discipline to say no to a bad fit?
Craig Knowles
July 11, 2017
Very interesting and raises a valid point that success for the technology provider, should be based on the success of the client (and as Bertrand mentioned, many other categories as well).
It’s a tricky question to ask if providers have the discipline to say no, after all, how do you know when it is a bad fit? In my experience when procurement software providers are brought in, it is often the catalyst for a change of the existing procurement process and difficult to tell if the structure will be in place to make the most out of the software.
I would argue that 99% of technology providers believe in their product and the value it can add, therefore it’s down to the clients to choose the right partner for them and the providers to advise them on why they are the right choice. Some of the responsibility does lie with the providers, ensuring new clients chose the best choice (for them) and not tying down a customer to an X year contract, without care to providing the client with the tools and resources that they need to succeed.
As an eSourcing software provider, we encourage clients to use our Sandpit tool and our on-demand offering to ensure that they are choosing the right provider for them and we are winning the right clients for us, one which we expect to make the best use of our software and gain real success in both the long and short term.