CREDIT: COUPA CREDIT: RGP less critical to their roles. The ability to interpret data, identify trends and translate insights into actionable strategies becomes paramount.“ Sometimes we’ re upskilling teams that they may have the capability, but it’ s a muscle that they haven’ t flexed because they’ ve really been focused on pushing paper,” Jessica adds.
Tricia reinforces this perspective, noting that once basic procurement processes are automated,“ the data they generate empowers procurement to operate as a true business and supplier partner, driving measurable value for organisations, from supplier collaboration to risk management and sustainability.”
Implementation realities Successfully implementing procurement automation requires more than just technology deployment. Jessica identifies several common challenges that organisations face:“ Our clients put too much faith in their system integrators. The SI is focused on configuring the system as designed, hooking it up and turning it on. They are not incentivised by adoption rates or post-implementation performance KPIs.”
The most critical gaps, according to Jessica, include“ data cleansing, strategic sourcing to enable guided buying, supplier enablement, change management and training.”
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