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Procurement decisions don’t fail inside procurement. They fail when real-world conditions hit them. That’s what we assess.
VA’s decision to stop using reverse auctions is surprising . . . right? Not if self-preservation is their main objective
March 8, 2012
Breaking News Update: Bloomberg’s Kathleen Miller reported earlier this week that VA Probes $42 Million in Awards Questioned by Congress. One of the issues is that “an agency employee processed more than 1,500 awards just under a monetary threshold that would require public disclosure of the contracts.” Now I am not suggesting that the use […]
Cloud-Based Spend Analytics: The Exeter University Story
February 29, 2012
In 2010, the University of Exeter set out an ambitious three-year strategy to deliver £10 million in savings. The university’s procurement organization, led by John Malloch, Head of Procurement, sought to contribute more than £1 million through improved spend visibility and analytics. John Malloch recognized early on that in order for his procurement organization to […]
Posted in: Uncategorized
Are enterprise software vendors becoming the new telephone companies of the cloud computing age?
February 22, 2012
Talking with an ever increasing number of both new as well as long established software/ERP vendors within the context of the cloud and the accelerated mobile reality of conducting business in a global marketplace, an interesting trend is emerging in terms of how these organizations are coming to a proverbial fork in the road relative […]
Outsourcing is often blamed for the loss of jobs, but is this a fair assessment?
February 21, 2012
The article draws coloration between outsourcing and job reduction. Outsourcing may be a cost reduction strategy but not an HR transformation strategy. If a private company can do the work better it only means that current operations is inefficient. By outsourcing it, you essentially get your hands on new capabilities to do it better by […]
Posted in: Commentary, Outsourcing & Shared Services
SAP Mobile App Strategy demonstrates a forethought of intent that reflects a collaboration with versus a reaction to a changing market
February 15, 2012
One of the more exciting aspects of my radio series on mobile computing is that it squarely places me in the middle of what I can only describe as being a major market transformation in which the means by which we interact both socially as well as in our business dealings is converging into a […]
Posted in: Commentary, Mobile Supply Chain
SAP interview reveals a company in “accelerated evolution” led by a walk the walk mobile first enterprise focus
February 10, 2012
During yesterday’s interview with JP Finnell (Head of Mobile Strategies, SAP America Service) and Vishy Gopalakrishnan (Vice President, Global Center of Excellence – Mobility, SAP), JP indicated that the company, which is celebrating it 40th year in business has, in the past three years, undergone more change than in the previous 37 years combined. At […]
Posted in: Commentary, Mobile Supply Chain
Sourcing Relationships Not Deals: The New Paradigm in Outsource Contracting
February 10, 2012
“This seminar bridges the disconnect between executive vision and practical front line execution. It is unlike any I have seen or been a part of.” When I was asked to review a new seminar on outsourcing contracting I have to admit that the been there – done that sentiment almost immediately came to mind. It […]
Posted in: Commentary, Outsourcing & Shared Services
From Mobile Business Intelligence to Synchronized Execution: So you can take it with you after all!
January 31, 2012
“Gartner expects that 33 percent of BI functionality will be consumed via mobile devices by 2013.” from the June 29th, 2011 article “Business Intelligence and Mobile Devices Will Change Supply Chain Management” by Herman Mehling One of the first things that comes to mind when I hear the term mobile Business Intelligence or “BI” are […]
Posted in: Commentary, Mobile Supply Chain
True or False: Does employee use of mobile devices personally increase end-user adoption of corporate buying solutions?
January 25, 2012
“Capitalizing on employee acceptance of mobile devices in their personal lives, removes the traditional obstacles to adoption of corporate buying solutions on the part of the end user.” The above is an interesting statement with which to introduce this, the first post in our series on the advent of mobile supply chain solutions. Before getting […]
Posted in: Commentary, Mobile Supply Chain
Procurement Insights 
With VA procurement the level of service and care veterans receive should be the primary focus . . .
March 13, 2012
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When organizations seek to drive efficiency and savings through the implementation of an automated procurement system, the impact can often be lost in terms of calculated returns and measurable process improvements. This of course is reflected in the consistently high rate of initiative failures to achieve the expected results in both the private and public […]