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This ready-to-use category strategy template offers editable frameworks for internal assessment and detailed industry and market category overviews to assist category managers, procurement professionals, and CPOs in creating an informed category strategy for Cloud and Infrastructure Services (CIS). CIS comprises the cloud (public/private/hybrid/multi-cloud), data center, security, digital workplace, and network services. These services are commonly outsourced, including public cloud, colocation, network security, threat operations, endpoint management, service desks, end-user device support, SD-WAN, and network automation services.

Category managers can customize this template with internal category information, such as spend, suppliers, and subcategory overview. They can also use the industry and market insights provided in this template to build a strong supply base understanding. A category strategy’s goal is to create an action plan for effective category management, and this template provides the requisite tools, frameworks, and information to create a robust strategy. Best-in-class procurement organizations effectively leverage such tools and techniques to drive continuous improvements in their categories.

Scope

All industries and geographies

Category in focus: CIS

Contents

In this category strategy report, we offer comprehensive templates based on a four-step process to create a category strategy:

• Define internal needs: define category maturity and objectives, create a buyer profile to gauge the current supply base state and predict future demand, and conduct total cost modeling
• Understand the market: build industry and supply base understanding by evaluating aspects such as market trends, key suppliers, major delivery locations, pricing trends, performance benchmarks, and category risks
• Determine the sourcing strategy: decide between an in-house versus outsourced model for the category and identify best practices and value levers to drive category efficiency
• Create an action plan: identify and prioritize projects and drive them toward execution