Organizations Eye Upgrading Sourcing, Supplier Management

November 25, 2020

A global study done in partnership with Harvard Business Review Analytic Services found that 60 percent of organizations say the pandemic has fast-tracked plans to upgrade and automate sourcing and supplier management. The momentum to advance digital acceleration comes as 95 percent of surveyed executives report disruption to their company’s sourcing and supplier management process as a result of the pandemic and 92 percent classified the digital maturity of this process as less than best-in-class going into the global crisis.

“Now more than ever, companies need a sophisticated, tech-enabled strategic sourcing function - highlighting the foundational importance of procurement in helping to enable critical cost-savings, mitigating supply chain disruptions, adapting business models, and achieving enterprise resilience,” said Alex Yakubovich, general manager, Spend Management, Workday. “Workday Strategic Sourcing has helped customers weather the pandemic, providing them with increased visibility, greater operational efficiencies, and automation - helping reduce risk. As the powerful association between procurement and business continuity comes into focus, we hope to help more organizations tap into strategic sourcing as an essential part of their success.”

The report, titled “Managing Procurement Risk: Enterprise Agility for a Changing World,” highlights the scope of procurement’s role in strengthening enterprise resilience and outlining the best practices and organizational standards necessary for business success in ‘the next normal.’ The survey of nearly 200 global business executives found that when it comes to procurement and supplier management processes, accelerating automation of procurement processes, digitizing more supplier information, and expanding data analysis capabilities of the supplier base are among the top initiatives companies will aim to support in the next 12 months. Additionally, the report reflects increased confidence in cloud platforms as the future of procurement technology, with 93 percent of respondents saying they already use such platforms, plan to use them, or are not yet but believe they should be using them.