Monthly Top 5 - January 2021

Author

Joël Collin-Demers
January 31, 2021 • 📖 5 minutes

Hi there,

I hope 2021 is kicking off nicely for you.

I've been thinking a lot about the future this month. It's only natural during "resolution season" I suppose... Particularly, I've been thinking about the marriage of Artificial Intelligence, data quality and digital transformation in Procurement.Increasingly, I believe these topics need to be tackled simultaneously in organizations instead of sequentially. Having a good understanding and strategy for all three topics from the outset will yield quickest path to higher maturity.

That's why all the articles this month are focused on getting you thinking about these topics for your own organization.

As always, don’t hesitate to reach out if there's anything I can do for you or just to say hello!

Best,

Joël

Top 5 Source-to-Pay Articles - January 2021

#1 - How Can We Maximize ROI on Artificial Intelligence Initiatives?

Lately, I've heard about of a lot of Artificial Intelligence proof of concept projects. However, not many seem to make it past this stage (Procurement or otherwise). This article explores how to put the data foundation in place to be successful with AI projects.

#2 - The Possibilities with Mature Internal AI Capabilities

Once you've got your data foundation in place, what are the AI possibilities for the Procurement function? This article lays out 4 stages of maturity (Automated, Augmented, Intelligent and Autonomous Procurement), how to progress through the model and how your work will change as a result.

#3 - How Can S2P Technology Better Support "Plan-to-Pay"?

Direct spend is typically well integrated with budget processes. However, the same cannot be said of indirect spend. With current S2P solutions, trying to get detailed planned spend for a given year is virtually impossible (vs. past spend via a spend cube which can already be hard enough). How can we marry process and technology to do a better job?

#4 - How Would You Build a Procurement Function From Scratch?

If you were to build a new Procurement function, which pillar would you prioritize and setup first: People, Processes or Technology? What is the impact of prioritizing one vs. another? This is an interesting thought experiment for those in mature Procurement functions and a great "stress test" for CPOs building a new team.

Advice For Building Procurement From Scratch
by Kelly Barner at Art of Procurement

#5 - Business Transformation as a Service : Is It Even Desirable?

This last article is a press release, but one that will make you think... Software giant SAP just announced their new offering: Business Transformation as a Service (which I'm dubbing BTaaS...).

Basically, the short version is: "Transforming operating models, modernizing architectures and implementing/running systems is hard. Why not hand over the keys to all of that to a trusted partner on a single, easy contract? We'll take care of everything."

While the concept is pure marketing gold, I have so many questions... For one, how is this different from outsourcing IT? Other than the fact that you will be guided towards replacing everything with SAP products (e.g., Ariba, Fieldglass, Concur for Procurement)? It's impossible to outsource business transformation decisions unless you replace all your CXOs with your partner, no? How will clients be able to take advantage of all the amazing new technologies not in the SAP portfolio while in this agreement? Will this offering be more attractive to smaller or larger organizations? Will other providers follow suit?More research is needed! I may have to write an article about this to wrap my head around it... Currently, it just hurts... I see potential with the concept but so much complexity... What do you think?

P.S. SAP also just announced plans to acquire Signavio , a leading Business Process Management Suite. I see a trend...

You wrote or read a great article? Send it my way, I'd love to read it.

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