Why Software Procurement is Different

Software has become an integral part of modern businesses, yet its procurement presents unique challenges. In this video, we’ll explore the complexities of software procurement and why it differs from traditional procurement strategies.

  • Ubiquity of Software: Software is everywhere, used for various purposes and by diverse stakeholders. This makes it difficult to develop a unified procurement strategy.
  • Lack of Standardization: Unlike tangible goods, software often lacks standardization, making direct comparisons and apples-to-apples bidding difficult.
  • Security and Functional Needs: The importance of security and specific functional requirements in software can further complicate procurement processes.

Join me as I discuss strategies to overcome these challenges and effectively procure software for your organization.

News You Can Use: 4/20/2016

sn_stars_Rodion Kutsaev

  • Survey: Health care industry most targeted by cyberattackers

    One promising sign is that 46 percent of health care organizations did plan to increase spending on data-at-rest defenses such as disk encryption, file encryption, data access controls, application encryption and tokenization, the highest ranking of any vertical. In particular, 46 percent say they will implement data security to follow industry best practices, 39 percent plan to implement cloud security gateways, 35 percent plan to implement tokenization, and 29 percent plan to implement application encryption.

    http://www.csoonline.com/article/3055406/data-breach/survey-health-care-industry-most-targeted-by-cyberattackers.html

  • Why Mining All That Data Will Keep Supply Chains Running Smoothly

    “To meet these ever-growing expectations, supply chains are integrating digital processes that extend enterprise-wide to help manage the complexities of omnichannel demand and fulfillment,” Schneider says. “For example, Brooks Brothers integrated a new customer relationship management (CRM) system to access a 360-degree view of its customers across 600 stores. This universal customer database was designed to help the company gain a personalized view of customer preferences and purchase history regardless of country or location. Many retailers are now taking advantage of big data to gain insight and visibility into consumers’ shopping behaviors, allowing them to align business models and supply chains to meet demand.”

    https://sourcingjournalonline.com/mining-all-that-data-keeps-supply-chains-running-smoothly-salfino/

  • How Politically Correct Should the Workplace Be?
    The post uses a specific example and a fictional dialog between the CEO and the HR rep. The offending act involves a picture of Hitler…
    http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2016/04/how-politically-correct-should-the-workplace-be/477636/
  • Please do not leave a message

    http://www.npr.org/sections/alltechconsidered/2014/10/23/358301467/please-do-not-leave-a-message-why-millennials-hate-voice-mail
  • 3 Skills Supply Chain Managers Need Today

    Market intelligence doesn’t just come from networking, though. A huge amount of insight comes from data analysis, too. The challenge is understanding how to actually analyze data and apply the analysis to supply chain strategy to drive positive results. People in supply chain management and procurement careers must have knowledge on data and data analytics, Handfield said. They need to understand what data is available to them, and how to apply the data and analytics to solve a supply chain problem.

    https://spendmatters.com/2016/04/12/3-skills-supply-chain-managers-need-today/

  • Immortality: When We Digitally Copy Our Minds, What Happens to Humanity?

Photo: Rodion Kutsaev

News You Can Use: 2/3/2016

sn_dogs_Ismael Nieto

  • C-suite career advice: Werner Knoblich, Red Hat

    Actually, there are three great pieces of advice that I’ve really taken note of and I’d find it hard to choose between them:
    i) Always strive to make sure that your ego doesn’t get in the way of making the right decision. Successful people always question themselves and continually seek new approaches to problem solving.
    ii) Take the time to make sure you have the right people in the right roles and don’t be afraid to move people around, if you can see a better fit for the team.
    iii) Never take short-cuts when hiring, it can take time to find the right person – but it’s worth the wait.

    http://www.idgconnect.com/abstract/11922/c-suite-career-advice-werner-knoblich-red-hat

  • Why 47 Percent of Your Best People Are Ready to Leave — and What You Can Do About It
    This is an alarmist headline, but the post goes on to discuss communicating with your employees and what you think may be positive feedback, might not register with them that way.

    According to Gallup’s research, 47 percent of your best employees are looking to leave you right now! Furthermore, during the course of surveying over 1.4 million employees, Gallup found that “65 percent of American employees said they had received no recognition from their manager in the last year.” Sixty-five percent is a staggeringly high number — but what if it’s actually incorrect?

    http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/254416

  • Data Breach Response Planning Part II

    Procurement will need to support supplier selection, contracting, engagement, and performance management of all necessary outsourced response services. Procurement will be managing different priorities and requirements from various stakeholders involved in a breach, i.e. all of the departments above, and will be expected to act as a cornerstone in ensuring that different requirements are met and balanced when and where they need to be.

    http://sourcinginnovation.com/wordpress/2016/01/28/data-breach-response-planning-part-ii/

  • You Can Become a Data Scientist. Yes, You.

    You can stay in tune with your business by identifying a handful of key statistics, such as average sales price or revenue per customer, and forcing yourself to track them over time. Soon you will see patterns in the data and identify trends much earlier. Trends that don’t seem to change much week over week may change significantly in the course of three to six months. Tracking over time gives you powerful insights that will help you to improve your business, making you an invaluable asset to your company.

    http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/254665

  • SCMR Columnist Co-Authors New Book on Supply Chain Disputes

    Squire Patton Boggs partner Sarah K. Rathke has published a comprehensive legal and operational guide to successfully managing supply chain relationships. The book, Legal Blacksmith: How to Avoid and Defend Supply Chain Disputes, is co-authored with Rosemary Coates, President of Blue Silk Consulting and Executive Director of the Reshoring Institute.

    The first book of its kind, Legal Blacksmith explains how to optimize supply chain relationships, starting with the first stages of supplier-buyer relationships through handling legal disputes when supply chain relationships fail.

    http://www.scmr.com/article/scmr_columnist_co_authors_new_book_on_supply_chain_disputes#When:14:26:42Z

  • Here’s Why Every Employee Should Have Unlimited Vacation Days

    It’s sad that we’re still compensated according to an assembly-line mentality. We work from whenever and wherever necessary to get results, so it only makes sense that our compensation and benefits reflect that shift.

    http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/269989

  • Which disruptions lose you more money: Black swans or routine risks?

    Dwelling over past risks which have altered the course of business, images of the September 11th attacks, or the 2013 Japanese tsunami or the global financial crisis first spring to mind. Similarly, when managers build their resilience plans, they worry about terrorist attacks or major political events.

    Past Procurement Leaders research has found that procurement professionals spend a lot of time worrying about events which have a low probability of occurring. Whereas the more routine risks of poor weather or machine downtown tend to catch out business and cause higher number of incidents.

    http://www.procurementleaders.com/blog/my-blog–jonathan-webb/which-disruptions-lose-you-more-money-black-swans-or-routine-risks-596025

  • HOW THIS WEEK’S TWITTER DEPARTURES REFLECT TECH’S CULTURE WOES

    But there’s another question worth asking, too, and it’s bigger than Twitter’s own woes: What message does the company send about what it takes to succeed in the tech world when time off is only “well deserved” by those who’ve failed? One source who spoke to Mashable claimed that the four departing Twitter execs “were not people in whom Jack has the highest faith.”

    http://www.fastcompany.com/3055937/lessons-learned/how-this-weeks-twitter-departures-reflect-techs-culture-woes

Photo: Ismael Nieto