PROCUREMENT
global markets are becoming oversaturated with competition and technology startups are targetting supply chain revolutionising software advancements .
Evolving Practices Needless to say , the art of procurement has come a long way since ancient times , so I figured we should take a look at the future of procurement in an age dominated by digital supply chains and technologically enhanced systems .
Earlier in the century , organisations started to deploy multiple ‘ core ’ procurement technologies as standard ; you can probably imagine which systems they focused on already : contract management , spend analytics , eProcurement , and eSourcing , amongst a myriad of others . These systems are and will always be important and , currently , make the foundation for procurement practices for most companies . But , in truth , they ’ re pricey , demand high levels of capital , and a lot of systems integration work .
“Blockchain technology puts incredible value on procurement forwards ”
DAVID FOOD STRATEGY DIRECTOR , PROPHETIC TECHNOLOGY
Twenty years on , the picture is a little different , with markets focused on both affordability and efficiency . The majority of companies — especially startups — are now working with Software as a Service ( SaaS ) models ; these models , for the less tech-savvy , are essentially ‘ pay as you go ’, scalable subscriptions that allow businesses to operate through the power of cloud computing . The new way of working tends to require little to no integration work , and services are affordable so that companies can hit the ground running with less capital that historically necessary .
34 April 2021