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Art of Procurement

Learn from Procurement Experts. Host Philip Ideson talks with thought leaders who share the trends, strategies and tactics that you can lever to elevate the role of procurement - and your career.
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Now displaying: September, 2023
Sep 29, 2023

Procurement 6 is a short podcast from Art of Procurement that publishes in the Art of Procurement feed every Friday morning at 6am US Eastern Time.

Presented by a member of the Art of Procurement team, each episode has 6 short segments that summarize the week in procurement.

Segments range from procurement tips to podcast summaries, from details of events to news or overviews of blog posts that capture our attention.

Sep 25, 2023

“Services are relationship-based from a procurement perspective, whether that means the relationship procurement needs to have with the business to be successful or the relationship the company has with the service provider.” - Philip Ideson.

This week’s episode of the podcast provides a behind the scenes look at Art of Procurement’s ongoing research into services procurement - research that everyone in our listening audience and social following is encouraged to participate in. 

Management of services categories has changed substantially in recent years, driven by the rise of contract work, freelancing, and contingent labor. With an increasing number of professionals working remotely, the barriers to accessing external talent are undergoing yet another adjustment.

In this conversation, Philip Ideson and Kelly Barner talk through some of the data points that form the core of the survey, sharing their perspective on the business outcomes and procurement processes in question.

Procurement organizations in all industries and geographies will want to benchmark themselves against the following themes covered in the survey, which only takes 5-7 minutes to complete:

  • Ownership over ‘make v. buy’ decisions related to talent and staffing needs
  • Procurement’s consultative role in the process for establishing service specifications
  • How companies decide which services are strategic - and which are not

Links:

 

Sep 22, 2023

Procurement 6 is a short podcast from Art of Procurement that publishes in the Art of Procurement feed every Friday morning at 6am US Eastern Time.

Presented by a member of the Art of Procurement team, each episode has 6 short segments that summarize the week in procurement.

Segments range from procurement tips to podcast summaries, from details of events to news or overviews of blog posts that capture our attention.

Sep 18, 2023

“If you look at the strategic sourcing process, I think it was made for complex categories. That’s one of the things that makes this so exciting as a potential lighthouse project. It’s a great opportunity for procurement to say, ‘This is why we do this. This is all of the value we can add.’”Benjamin Lambert, Principal at Efficio

Navigating complex spend categories can be challenging for procurement – the stakes tend to be high, stakeholder resistance is real, and the category may be nuanced or unfamiliar to procurement. At the same time, complex spend categories give procurement some of the best opportunities to flex their strategic muscles and demonstrate the depth and breadth of value they can provide across the business. 

To understand how procurement should leverage the opportunity associated with complex spend categories, Philip Ideson spoke with Ben Lambert, Principal at Efficio. According to Ben, procurement needs a mindset shift when it comes to complex spend - it is time for procurement to get excited about complex spend categories rather than fearing the potential risks. 

 

In this episode, Ben and Phil talk about: 

  • What makes a category “complex”
  • How procurement can establish their reputation as a true strategic partner beyond tactical execution
  • Ways procurement can deliver maximum value even when the category is unfamiliar 

Links:

 

Sep 15, 2023

Procurement 6 is a short podcast from Art of Procurement that publishes in the Art of Procurement feed every Friday morning at 6am US Eastern Time.

Presented by a member of the Art of Procurement team, each episode has 6 short segments that summarize the week in procurement.

Segments range from procurement tips to podcast summaries, from details of events to news or overviews of blog posts that capture our attention.

Sep 11, 2023

“If this is something that you want to tackle, it is not a lone wolf-type project. You’re going to need the support of the business. Having the right partner or the right shepherd in the organization can make a really meaningful difference.”  --Brian Salkowski, Chief Operating Officer at Guidant Global

Decisions about how a company manages their external talent management program should not be taken lightly. There are many factors contributing to complexity, including varied expectations, a high bar for efficiency and effectiveness requirements, and the fact that no two people on the planet offer quite the same combination of capabilities.

In this episode, Philip Ideson and Kelly Barner interview Brian Salkowski, Chief Operating Officer at Guidant Global, and Marie France, Contingent Workforce Management and Procurement Operations Expert at Guidant Global. 

They discuss opportunities to elevate services procurement without disrupting the internal team or the stakeholders that rely upon that source of talent:

  • The impact this category of spend has on a company’s ability to operate, and the contributions it can make to procurement’s value proposition
  • How to optimize spending decisions at the intersection of multiple options and talent fulfillment models
  • The importance of gathering market intelligence and benchmarking data, making the most of quantitative and qualitative supporting facts to bolster the business case

Links:

Sep 8, 2023

Procurement 6 is a short podcast from Art of Procurement that publishes in the Art of Procurement feed every Friday morning at 6am US Eastern Time.

Presented by a member of the Art of Procurement team, each episode has 6 short segments that summarize the week in procurement.

Segments range from procurement tips to podcast summaries, from details of events to news or overviews of blog posts that capture our attention.

Sep 4, 2023

“If you were to step back and look at the output of all these companies’ RFPs, I think what you are trying to get as procurement is not these wonky proposals. You're trying to engage in a very dynamic conversation, because even in software, the way in which we configure and support and train are all really better had as a live dialogue.” - Chris Mele, Managing Partner at Software Pricing Partners

Most procurement practitioners would probably acknowledge that there is plenty of room for improvement when it comes to the structure and process associated with RFPs, especially for SaaS spend. Creating a fair, level playing field in the RFP process is a common challenge, and there’s often a lack of agility or customization: too much reliance on a one-size-fits-all sourcing approach.

To better understand the supplier’s perspective and what pain points affect overall business outcomes, Philip Ideson spoke with Chris Mele, Managing Partner at Software Pricing Partners. Chris first appeared on the podcast two years ago to represent a sales perspective on the RFP process. In this follow-up episode, he returns to talk about improvements he has seen and to break down what is still not working. 

In this episode, Chris and Phil discuss:

  • The most dysfunctional aspects of the traditional RFP process for SaaS procurement  
  • Practical ways procurement can optimize the RFP process
  • Whether standard RFPs are obsolete, and if so, what is might be a replacement

Why procurement should opt for a two-way dialogue instead of a one-sided RFP

Links:
Chris Mele on LinkedIn
“A Sales Perspective on Software Pricing and the RFP Process” with Chris Mele

Sep 1, 2023

Procurement 6 is a short podcast from Art of Procurement that publishes in the Art of Procurement feed every Friday morning at 6am US Eastern Time.

Presented by a member of the Art of Procurement team, each episode has 6 short segments that summarize the week in procurement.

Segments range from procurement tips to podcast summaries, from details of events to news or overviews of blog posts that capture our attention.

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