EXECUTIVE INSIGHT
new technologies or even build a procurement team .
In rapidly growing mid market companies , there is also the challenge of prioritising investment ; do we focus all available capital on growth or divert a portion to support margin improvement ? I have seen many examples of rapidly growing mid-market companies who fully understood the efficiency , margin and visibility opportunity to be gained with procurement technology , but were not at the point to shift focus to include profitability as a priority along with growth .
By adopting the right tools and becoming digitally proficient , midmarket companies can meet the high growth benchmarks their organisations have set while also improving margins and becoming more resilient and agile in their processes .
Q . HOW CAN THESE COMPANIES START THEIR DIGITAL JOURNEY ?
» The idea of setting out on a digital transformation journey can be daunting , and knowing where to start can be the hardest step .
We ’ ve heard from some of our customers that their main priorities still lie in the basics of procurement . For midmarket companies , this includes cost containment , navigating supply chain issues , sourcing and supplier visibility .
The best guidance is to start simple and grow more complex as needed .
Digitalisation is meant to help companies build resilience and improve efficiency , which can be vastly different for every company based on their individual priorities and the challenges they need to address .
Many of our customers , especially midmarket customers , seek digital solutions and move to cloud-based systems because when they start expanding , they find that manual processes are not suitable for managing complex spend or procurement operations .
One of our customers , IDP Education , began their digital journey because they needed a cloud-based system that would unify and streamline procurement while integrating AI capabilities to match with their digital transformation needs .
With SAP spend management solutions , they have access to data and insights that were not possible through their previous manual processes .
This level of insight enables IDP to detect and flag potential risks while helping them gain a deeper understanding of their spending patterns as they continue to expand their business .
Q . HOW CAN DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION HELP THESE COMPANIES BECOME MORE COMPETITIVE ?
» To stay competitive , midsize organisations must embrace digital solutions that optimise resources and provide real-time insights into operations .
By doing so , they can enhance their market intelligence , foster stronger relationships with internal team members and suppliers and uncover valuable opportunities for growth .
SAP recently conducted a study with Oxford Economics , uncovering
20 July 2024