SupplyChain Magazine November 2021 | Page 89

MICROSOFT
“ To give you an example , when it comes to engaging with a stakeholder , if you come informed by a trend , you understand their previous actions , in that way , understand what might be interesting for them in the future . If they have $ 100 and our procurement position can help save them $ 20 , for example , that ’ s extra money that can be spent on additional services or saved . Those sorts of insights lead to more commercial value than simply handing back some money .”
This , Nuhamovici says , will be the biggest challenge for procurement in the years ahead , not just for Microsoft , but in the sector at large . “ Innovation comes in technology , by leveraging systems , but it also has to come from new ideas ,” Nuhamovici says .
“ That comes from partnerships and pooling those ideas to pull the market ahead ,” he says . “ Once you sign an innovative contract with a supplier , it becomes the common practice for the supplier because they learned how to do it . Now they can copy or adjust this idea with future contracts in the market . This is a good example of how you eventually lead and develop procurement to be better positioned and create a larger impact not only on the company you work with , but on other markets as well .
“ It ' s a challenge , and that ’ s a good thing , because when you ' re being challenged , that is how you improve your ideas . If everything goes smoothly , you never improve , and that to me is quite a beautiful thing .” supplychaindigital . com 89