Spend Matters » Thomas Kase

E-Sourcing: What’s Changed in the Past Five Years (Part 2)

Thomas Kase — Thu, 23 May 2013 21:08:12 +0000

In the first installment in this series, we talked a lot about the changing e-sourcing landscape based on observations from a deep dive sourcing analysis we’re currently working on. Today we’ll share some of the remaining “gotchas” to bring our subscribers up to speed on what’s changed in the past five years. But first, here’s a summary of our initial points: Non-western expertise and sourcing suites gain stature The rise of truly integrated end-to-end solutions is finally here (in certain cases) Optimization (i.e., flexible and alternative bidding submissions, application of buyer constraints, scenario analysis) has finally gotten easy to use Larger [...]

Analyze This! – Supplier Performance Management Based on Real Data

Thomas Kase — Thu, 23 May 2013 14:01:43 +0000

To drive change and improvements, it is critical that internal stakeholders and suppliers rally around good data based on a uniform set of definitions. The challenge for most organizations, especially those with a global footprint, is the consistently drive processes and definitions across the whole organizations. Making the analysis timely, effective and efficient sets up another challenge in the form of minimizing the touching of data – no rekeying – and as little manual entry as possible. Only then can the right solution consolidate and present users with a dashboard and data that is still actionable. Nobody wants to read [...]

Technology Gives Fresh Take on Supplier Performance Management

Thomas Kase — Tue, 21 May 2013 13:35:08 +0000

Join us for Good Data: Spend Analysis Tactics to Attack Supplier Performance Management on Thursday, May 30 from 10-11am Central. FMC Technologies is an oil and gas industry company with over 18,000 employees, $6.5B in revenue, and a $13B market cap. Like most businesses, they stand and fall with the performance of their key strategic suppliers. The company’s major headache comes from lack of consistent data, terms, SLAs, etc. across the globe: how can they accurately benchmark anything? How do you uniformly define concepts like quality and on-time delivery, for example? The question is as much centered on process and [...]

Financial Services Vendor Risk Management

Thomas Kase — Fri, 17 May 2013 21:06:26 +0000

BB&T Punts on Ariba, Scores Touchdown with Hiperos to Tackle Compliance Headache This case study analysis is based on commentary presented by BB&T and Hiperos at the Sourcing Interests Group (SIG) spring summit in 2013. BB&T (NYSE: BBT) is a large regional bank, predominantly active in the US southeast and Texas – over 31,000 full-time employees, and close to a $20B market cap. BB&T has used Ariba for six years and is now in the process of implementing SAP. From a financial industry perspective, there were issues with the bank’s approach to managing suppliers – and a new approach was on their drawing [...]

SIG Dispatch 1: Initial Impressions and Exploring the Procurement / Tax Equation

Thomas Kase — Wed, 15 May 2013 16:31:27 +0000

Today’s the second day of my very first SIG Summit on Amelia Island (near Jacksonville in northeastern Florida). And I’m even wearing the prescribed newbie palm tree on my name badge. However, this is far from the first SIG Summit. To be exact, this one is the 43rd, and there are around 375 attendees in all. As context, SIG got started back in 1991 when its founder Barry Wiegler put together a group of procurement folks primarily tasked with exploring the outsourcing function. Since then, SIG has been transformed into a broader membership organization that tackles a much broader range [...]

Why Set Yourself Up to Fail – Don’t Use Traditional Software Solution RFPs (Part 2)

Thomas Kase — Fri, 10 May 2013 14:44:59 +0000

After you’ve invested time to really understand your specified requirements (and documented them internally), you should consider truly opening up the RFP – make it a real Request For Proposal (i.e., “show me what you can do”). This contrasts with a Request For Quotation (locked-down specs, just give me your price, etc.) by another name. Here are a few lines of inquiry that I rarely saw in RFPs but that I think can be of tremendous value to successful adoption, ongoing learning and innovation for procurement tools: Describe the type of organization that is an ideal user of your solution: Procedural/bureaucratic vs. [...]

Why Set Yourself Up to Fail – Don’t Use Traditional Software Solution RFPs (Part 1)

Thomas Kase — Fri, 10 May 2013 12:13:35 +0000

The opinions in this piece are based on my past experiences from being the point person handling hundreds of Global 2000 proposals covering e-sourcing, supplier management, contract management, and other solutions that support the upstream procurement function – as well as on recent conversations with managers and executives currently involved in proposing such solutions to the same client base. At Procuri (since acquired by Ariba), which is the firm where we had the best process (that I have ever worked with) for RFPs, “my” success rate at winning proposals was around 11%, if I recall correctly. (Please note that this [...]

Our Evaluation Process: An Optimal RFP For E-Sourcing Solutions

Thomas Kase — Thu, 09 May 2013 21:03:12 +0000

We recently reached out to sourcing solution software providers with a round of questions to understand how they position themselves in the marketplace: how do they deliver value to clients, where are their differentiators, etc. – so we can deliver the highest quality shortlists possible to readers like you. Today we’re offering an insider’s look into our internal sausage-making process in the spirit of full transparency for our PRO audience – sharing the RFP spreadsheet we sent to the solution providers a few months ago. Become a Spend Matters PRO member for full access to the RFP spreadsheet – and access [...]

Procurement Inertia: When Did You Last Run Through the Seven Steps?

Thomas Kase — Fri, 03 May 2013 11:04:25 +0000

Don’t wait for the consultants to come in and kick you past your inertia. If you stay vigilant by revisiting your spend on a regular basis and looking at what you can source more competitively, you might even be able to find line items you no longer need. No point in buying spare parts for a production line that is being phased out, right? You also need to understand the revenue model and customer base of your key suppliers. Looking forward is a challenge in all organizations, and it is tempting to come up with ways to address challenges from [...]

Internet Sales Tax? Get Real, Public Sector

Thomas Kase — Fri, 26 Apr 2013 14:42:55 +0000

At the core of sound strategic sourcing lies spend analytics. Inevitably, you need to analyze the potential contribution impact among the many activities you could undertake. Time is always limited, and there is little point in focusing scarce resources on something that will not move the dial appreciably (especially not if there are juicier targets ready elsewhere). With that in mind, let’s look at the current revenue raising initiative by parts of Congress (and the Obama Administration) to impose sales tax on all internet sales. This is a radical change that will undoubtedly affect both the business model and the [...]