- Strategic Or Tactical: Time To Decide And Act
If you have been reading this blog for the last two years, I have been shouting this. This short post sums up my views on strategic sourcing.IT could well be an ally too, particularly in efforts to ensure cyber security and take advantage of the analytics possibilities with big data. And engineering could learn to appreciate procurement’s value too. While engineers may think they know the capabilities of some part suppliers, they may not know of the capacity constraints those suppliers have that can prevent them from delivering on time. Procurement should know about those constraints through its studies of the suppliers’ markets and industries.
- Screwing up the Screw-Ups in BI
Right! Except that the Holy Grail of trying to extend a “centralized” database umbrella over completely disparate systems is both incredibly expensive and nearly impossible. Baseline suggests “[partnering] with a reputable systems integrator.” Good for them — at least they dodge this bullet rather than getting the answer completely wrong. The right answer is that business analysts should be able to construct BI datasets on their own, as needed, from whatever data sources are useful/appropriate, and it shouldn’t be difficult for them to do so. Concentrating all of the information under one umbrella isn’t necessary; many umbrellas can do the job, and if they’re easy to deploy, they’re both inexpensive and provide a better and more flexible answer.
http://sourcinginnovation.com/wordpress/2015/09/03/screwing-up-the-screw-ups-in-bi-repost/
- 4 Ways to Construct a ‘Data-Innovation’ Map for Your Business
A data-innovation map can give you a bird’s-eye view of your customers’ experience and show you how you can be more innovative with data — not to mention save time and drive revenue. Without a data-innovation map, you’re likely missing out on places in your strategy where you could more effectively use data and inadvertently give your competition a leg up.
- The journey from good to great
Shrinking the pie also requires procurement professionals to hone and broaden their skill set. I think that one of the best characteristics for someone in procurement is ‘being nosey’ (or to say this more politely, ‘being curious’). This needs to extend and broaden if you are to shrink the pie. You need to be curious not only about the business need, the supply market and the total cost, but also about the interfaces between the supplier and the customer and the supplier and its suppliers.
http://www.procurementleaders.com/blog/my-blog–caroline-booth/the-journey-from-good-to-great-565670
- Why You Should Not Build Your Own Contract Management System
Interesting to see them list the core “must have features”
http://sourcinginnovation.com/wordpress/2015/09/07/why-you-should-not-build-your-own-contract-management-system/
Photo: Skitter Photo, StockSnap