TECHNOLOGY is sort of a low hanging fruit in terms of automating it .
“ Whereas S2C can do with a lot of systems . These things are pretty complicated , and you need to have systems in place to provide some method to the madness and also provide some intelligence to your sourcing professionals on what are the best prices , what are the best ways , and what are the best geographies . So I think there is a huge amount of technology required for the entire S2P process , but the attributes of the processes are very different . P2P is transactional , and the upstream S2C is very subjective , very judgmental in nature .”
Five Best Practices for Success Now that we understand that entire S2P process , Gupta walks us through the five best practices for success .
“ First , you need to understand your organisation ' s data . Having data is a very important aspect of the whole process . Without data , it is going to be hard to make decisions , so having holistic visibility into your spend data is important . Second , is talent . Getting the right people is very important , especially in sourcing and category management . Finding expertise is hard and is often a skill set that is developed over time , so this is something that needs to be decided whether it can be found in-house or outsourced .
“ I also think the processes are very important because we can often create hugely complicated and cumbersome processes , and I think simplifying the processes first before implementing any S2P solution is very important . You can throw as much money at technology , but if your processes are bad , then it ' s garbage in garbage out . I would also say technology , not just basic platforms , but leveraging emerging technologies like robotic process automation , machine learning , prescriptive and predictive analytics - I call those the AAA trifecta of automation , analytics , and AI - leveraging these emerging technologies is important . Last but not least is change management , I think it ' s very important . You can invest as much as you want in emerging technologies , but if your people are not adopting them , then what ' s the point ? So I think how you drive change in cultures and behaviours of using some of these investments is important . So for me , it boils down to these five things in my mind : people , process , technology , data , and change .” procurementmag . com 91