"If we have data, let's look at data. If all we have are opinions, let's go with mine." - James Love, CEO Netscape
This post will only resonate with a handful of CPOs. Some might find this impractical, but here are the Top 5 things that you need to remove in 2023 from your Procurement Transformation programs and Be Bold about it. Either be Bold about it or go Home.
1) Stop Being Ok with Mediocrity:
- Stop working with Legacy vendors. Read about community reviews and not rely on brand baggage.
- This applies to your Vendors, Consultants and your internal team members as well.
- Call out lack of knowledge or if your team doesn't reflect the best practice. "Been there - Done that"
- Ask your team to be ambitious and upgrade themselves ruthlessly. Every Procurement Centre of Excellence team must know data science and should have a use case library. Also, they should be able to build prototypes using low-code/no-code solutions in a matter of a week.
- 2023 is not the time to be working with catch-and-dispatch intermediaries or coordinators. Cut the communication blockers.
2) Speed is everything in Digitalization:
- For a long, long time, Digital Procurement providers and their implementation partners/consultants have spoiled the procurement digitization space with their 6 months and even multi-year integration rollout plans.
- These cartels have been channels to drain dollars, stall productivity and curtail innovation. Things have progressed significantly in the last 3 years. Anything above 3 months in implementation is purely a skill and capability issue. Call it out and change the vendors.
- Let me repeat, you can not spend more than 3 months on integration and go-live. Integration complexity has been reduced by a factor of 10! Do not over-estimate 20+ ERPs, different data structures etc. Upgrade your team and your business demands from vendors
3) Stop meaningless and low-value projects in Procurement digitization. Be smart with Data:
- 2023 is not about a "good to have" project. It is about chasing 0 to 1 kind of initiative.
- Do not become a digital tool hoarder. Get rid of tools and dashboards that have <10% adoption.
- Craft out a use case library. What will you do with the data after you get it? How fast can you bring practical results? Check again if your data is bringing only "good to have" insights. If yes, kill the project!
4) 2023 is the year of suppliers. So, let go of your Procurement Ego and learn to Negotiate. Find your leverages NOW
5) Procurement Excellence is going to be far more important. I see this function as a key player in Negotiations. Ensuring Processes and governance reflect an efficient balance between agility and compliance.
I had to cut short my points 3, 4 and 5. The detailed episode will be live this weekend on Spotify and Youtube on the @supernegotiate channel. Love it!
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