Procurement, once considered a back-office function, has seen a lot of changes in the last couple of years, with enterprises centralizing and streamlining entire processes, adopting strategic and collaborative approaches with suppliers, and outsourcing to leverage third-party expertise. However, most of these changes are focused on indirect procurement. The direct spend space has seen fewer changes due to enterprise reluctance to outsource a core function, and, therefore, remains riddled with inefficiencies, resulting in huge areas of untapped opportunity. This is where third-party technology and process expertise can help, by mitigating these concerns and guiding enterprises on a transformation journey to innovate direct spend management. This paper explores the intrinsic differences between direct and indirect procurement and discusses challenges in direct spend management. It highlights the benefits of tapping into external expertise, as well as current adoption drivers. Finally, it discusses the key issues for CPOs to consider when planning to outsource direct spend. Membership(s)   Procurement Outsourcing  

In our recently completed research into innovation in sourcing and procurement, we identified VSP Global as a Pinnacle Enterprise™ based on its outstanding outcomes and capability maturity. We had a chance to speak with Greg Tennyson, Head of Global Corporate Services, about the company’s innovation journey. Greg joined VSP Global nearly six years ago to lead the procurement and travel teams, and shortly thereafter began transforming his organization to focus on delivering business value through partnering with business and functional stakeholders. Due to his success, Greg is now responsible not only for procurement and travel, but also real estate and facilities, physical security, safety and distribution. He also serves as an advisory board member of industry associations such as Sourcing Industry Group (SIG) and ProcureCon, as well as procurement technology companies including Amazon Business, ScoutRFP, CXO Nexus, and FairMarkIT. Prior to VSP Global, Greg was the VP, Source-to-Settle and Travel-to-Expense global leader for Salesforce and Oracle. With his deep knowledge of global processes and related technologies, gained from over two decades of experience leading global teams, Greg’s insights into what has and hasn’t worked are invaluable for other organizations looking to move the needle on innovation. Membership(s) Accelerators Procurement Outsourcing

On September 21, Everest Group hosted a webinar titled, "5 New Ways to Drive Strategic Results from Procurement Outsourcing." In recent years, procurement has evolved from predominantly focusing on savings and operational excellence to a more strategic focus on end-to-end category management and supplier relationship management.</pP This progression has increased enterprises’ focus on strategic engagements, including how best to drive business results from their procurement outsourcing models and extract the most value from their engagements across delivery models, pricing structures, governance and performance, talent management, digital transformation, and more. Watch this webinar to discover ways that leading procurement service providers are delivering differentiated value in these areas for their clients. What questions does the webinar answer for the participants? What are the key components of an effective procurement outsourcing model? What are typical engagement structures between service providers and enterprises? How does outsourcing drive digital transformation in procurement processes? What is needed for a robust governance and performance model to manage your procurement outsourcing partnerships? What is the latest on the procurement outsourcing service provider landscape?

Since the introduction of ChatGPT, organizations have shown a keen interest in exploring the applications of generative AI across various business functions, with procurement being no exception. As procurement has evolved from a back-office function to a strategic one, organizations are increasingly focused on transforming procurement operations by leveraging advanced technologies. While procurement has traditionally utilized technologies such as Robotic Process Automation (RPA), Optical Character Recognition (OCR), and basic analytics, the adoption of advanced technologies such as AI/ML is still in its early stages compared to more mature functions such as Finance and Accounting (F&A) and HR. However, the emergence of generative AI and growing enterprise interest in its applicability are expected to accelerate the adoption of next-generation technologies, including AI/ML, to drive further efficiencies and achieve better business outcomes across procurement operations. Generative AI’s creative and cognitive capabilities offer multiple potential use cases across the Source-to-Pay (S2P) value chain, with some organizations already piloting generative AI-based solutions within procurement. It can potentially transform procurement operations by facilitating increased automation, offering decision support, and reducing manual intervention through virtual assistants. With the buzz around generative AI and its emerging use cases, it is imperative for organizations to prioritize the most impactful use cases while also being cognizant of the various challenges associated with the application of generative AI-based solutions in procurement. In this viewpoint, we explore the current landscape of digital adoption in procurement, examining existing AI/ML-based solutions across the S2P value chain. The report also highlights the emergence of generative AI and its implications for procurement, exploring specific use cases within the procurement value chain and emphasizing the prioritization of these use cases for implementation. Scope All industries and geographies Contents In this viewpoint, we examine: The current state of digital adoption in procurement Use cases of AI-/ML-based solutions across the S2P value chain The emergence of generative AI and its implications Generative AI’s use cases within procurement operations and their prioritization Key considerations to ensure generative AI solutions’ successful implementation Membership(s) Procurement and Supply Chain Outsourcing Excellence