Digital Procurement Is Not a Job for B-Players...

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Hi readers,

Tonight I’m picking on a pet peeve of mine… Staffing your procurement system implementation like it’s “just an IT system implementation…”

Considering that 88% of organizations self-reported that their business transformations failed to achieve their original ambitions in 2024, I think Bill Lumbergh needs a reality check…

Tonight I’m giving you the firepower to have this conversation yourself with the rest of your organization. Let’s do this.

Onwards!

📰 In this week’s edition:

• 🌐 Whitepaper: How Workflow-Driven Collaboration Harmonizes Business Operations (sponsored)

• 📋 5 procurement jobs that caught my eye

• 🏆 The Road to the ProcureTech Cup : Episode 9

• 🌙 Digital Procurement Is Not a Job for B-Players…

Let me know what you thought in the poll at the bottom of this email.
Your feedback shapes the content of this newsletter.

ICYMI 👀: My best Linkedin post of the week:
Procurement Intake & Orchestration… Why all the fuss…?

Note: Some of the content above is only available in the email version of this newsletter. Don’t miss out! Sign up for free to get the next edition.

Tonight’s newsletter is sponsored by…

Discover the Key to Seamless Business Operations

Ready to unlock the next level of procurement excellence? Dive into our latest whitepaper, How Workflow-Driven Collaboration Harmonizes Business Operations, and see how workflow-based collaboration can transform the way your team works.

Here’s a sneak peek at what you’ll learn:

• Workflows vs. Orchestration: How workflows act as the backbone connecting every part of your organization, driving real results.

• Tech Enablement: Why AI-powered data fuels human intelligence and change management, making processes smoother without losing control or centralization.

• Business Impact: Explore how flexible workflows lead to seamless compliance, increased auditability, and improved procurement outcomes—without mandates!

Don’t miss out on these insights that could change the way your business runs. Download the whitepaper for free and take the first step toward more efficient, collaborative operations.

🏆 Road to the ProcureTech Cup

This Week’s Episode

Join me as Sievo comes on the show to demo their Procurement analytics platform.

From helping track the savings lifecycle, CO2 emissions tracking, OTIF calculations, materials forecasting, diversity and sustainability analytics, Sievo is much more than a spend analytics tool.

Last Week’s Episode

Opstream demoed their very sleek Intake & Orchestration platform last Friday.

They CRM for procurement, as they called it!

If you missed it and want to watch the replay, pick you poison:

🌙 Sunday Night Note

Digital Procurement Is Not a Job for B-Players…

Do you have top performers leading your digital procurement initiatives?

Digital transformation in procurement is more than a one-time project; it’s an ongoing operational capability that requires continuous effort.

It’s one of your most important capabilities going forward….

Why?

Well, digital transformation is about reorganizing how work gets done. The decisions your digital transformation professionals take determine how your whole function operates.

It is therefore one of the most critical roles in your function…

It deserves YOUR BEST procurement people.

Tonight, I make the case by identifying the ideal profile for a digital procurement transformation professional:

1/ Strong Procurement Skills

A deep understanding of procurement fundamentals is critical.

Procurement’s digital transformation professionals should have practical experience with core procurement activities, from spend analysis to category management to purchasing and invoicing.

This ensures they can align digital solutions with procurement objectives to drive real results.

2/ Deep Organizational Knowledge

A strong grasp of how the organization operates is essential.

This team member must understand your core business and the main value drivers of your business model.

An in-depth understanding of end-to-end, cross-function workflows ensures that any transformation efforts align with your company’s overall goals and drives tangible improvements in performance.

3/ A Large Network in the Organization

Having strong relationships with stakeholders across the business is very important to enable transformation as it enables change management.

The ideal digital procurement professional needs influence and credibility with key departments like finance, legal, and operations.

This connectivity facilitates smoother change management and helps ensure broader stakeholder buy-in, increasing the likelihood of successful project adoption (and therefore actually getting to business benefits).

4/ Digital Literacy

Digital literacy is a must for your digital procurement team, obviously…

Digital procurement professionals should not only be fluent in procurement technologies like Source-to-Pay (S2P) suites, spend analytics, and contract management tools but also be generally tech-savvy (Who’s the “Excel guy/gal” at work?).

Their ability to navigate data analysis, automation, and emerging technologies such as AI and robotic process automation enables them to optimize procurement processes efficiently.

They should also be naturally curious, continually seeking to improve processes and stay updated on industry trends and application updates.

5/ A Resilient, Results-Oriented Personality

Resilience and adaptability are essential traits for a digital procurement professional.

Procurement’s digital transformation projects often face obstacles such as technical challenges, stakeholder resistance, and organizational inertia. The ability to stay focused, navigate setbacks, and keep projects moving forward is non-negotiable.

Your “A-team” should be results-driven, determined to see initiatives through to successful outcomes while also being empathetic to their colleagues and open to compromise if it can lead to increased solution adoption over time.

Unfortunately, there aren’t that many digital procurement superstars that fit this bill on the market today…

The good news is that fostering the potential of someone who could turn into this person can often be enough.

I hope I’ve convinced you that you should “spare no talent” when picking folks to be on your digital procurement initiatives (and hopefully when staffing a digital procurement center of expertise (CoE)…).

If you’re just starting on your digital procurement journey, please, PLEASE don’t assign you B/C/D players to the project because “it’s just an IT system implementation.”

I promise you’ll kick yourself later on.

Can you think of 1-2 people in your team that could be great digital procurement professionals? That’s the first step! Get them on a development plan according to the above asap.

💭 Quote of the Week

1. Pure Procurement Premium — Get access to Deep Dive guides and templates to get your digital procurement initiatives right.

2. Work with me — I’ve been helping global procurement teams digitalize their processes and practices for 12+ years.

3. Reach 10,000+ Pure Procurement readers — You have something to share with digitally-minded procurement professionals?