5 Videos: Everything You Wanted To Know About Digital Procurement from Two Chief Research Officers

Our chief research officer (CRO), Pierre Mitchell, appears in a series of video discussions on the theme of ‘the digital procurement ecosystem.’ That’s pretty much everything from thoughts on AI, RPA, big data and cloud solutions through to contingent workforce trends and entire enterprise-level digital transformation. In what is dubbed the ‘CRO to CRO’ talks, he sits down with Michel Janssen, chief research officer of Everest Group, a research and management consulting firm, and together they brainstorm the CPO agenda, the state of procurement generally and, with feedback from procurement professionals, the investment priorities for 2019.

There are 5 videos in the series, and each is only about 7 to 8 minutes long – so a quick and easy listen on your journey to or from work. Here’s a roundup so that you can go straight to the discussions that best suit your interests (although we would recommend listening to them all as together they form a fully-rounded discussion, and are pretty insightful, though we say it ourselves!):

Video 1 — How Digital Transformation is Disrupting Investment Priorities

The research analysts begin with an introduction to the digital transformation ecosystem, asking what the biggest investment priorities are for service providers and enterprises – and they ask that elusive question: what do we really mean by ‘digital?’ They start by looking at the recent changes in the types of digital deal being made, noting that the focus has changed from large services outsourcing projects, to smaller, more plentiful digital services deals. Then they talk about shifting buying patterns and how more budget is being influenced by the chief digital officer. Generally, they say, both service providers and enterprises are prioritising big data, automation (RPA) and cloud solutions in their 2019 investment plans. Watch that here:

Video 2 — The Evolution of Procurement in a Transforming Landscape

How the role of procurement is changing and expanding is the theme of the second discussion. The research officers identify three key trends that have shaped the metamorphosis since the ‘80s. Then they ask what this means for procurement’s value creation, the role having gone from buying at the lowest price, to total cost of ownership, to risk mitigation and supply chain management. They put ‘digital’ into the context of agility, enabling procurement to keep up with, and cater for, the needs of the business, and tap into the innovation that sits within the supply chain. Watch that here:

Video 3 — Viewing Digital from a Platform Perspective

The third discussion picks up from where the organisation has made its decision to ‘go digital.’ The two CROs have compiled a comprehensive framework called a ‘digital capability platform,’ which gives a holistic picture for prospective buyers, struggling with the plethora of providers and sourcing models. Through this they explore the different digital platforms that are available on the market, the different ways to bundle/buy digital solutions, and who is responsible for making the right digital purchasing decisions. They explain why understanding the entire flow of the process is crucial. Watch that here:

Video 4 — The New Talent Management Challenges and How to Address Them

What are the key challenges to effective talent management? Is there a need to rethink the approach to the entire talent model today? Those are the questions our two CROs do battle with next, and ask whether, or how, they fit into the digital transformation agenda. They discuss the talent shortage, talent needs and trends in different industries, and ‘price’ of wages in the full-time versus contingent workforce markets. They then talk about how digital solutions can enable a different type of talent. Watch that here:

Video 5 — Moving From Knowledge Sharing to Gaining Business Value

Our two CROs talk about how Procurement organisations can help drive business value. They dive deeper into how we can get more intelligence about the providers and their solutions, how we leverage that information once we have it, and how we can tap into the innovative ecosystem to drive business value. In this wrap-up conversation they explain how we can capture the right information for the right outcomes and how real-life companies are using these real-life solutions to drive real-life value. Watch that here: