Etosha Thurman TITLE : CHIEF MARKETING & SOLUTIONS OFFICER , INTELLIGENT SPEND & BUSINESS NETWORK
PROCUREMENT STRATEGY
“Digitalisation has been an ongoing trend for many years , although category management is just catching up ”
ETOSHA THURMAN CHIEF MARKETING & SOLUTIONS OFFICER , INTELLIGENT SPEND & BUSINESS NETWORK , SAP
Etosha Thurman TITLE : CHIEF MARKETING & SOLUTIONS OFFICER , INTELLIGENT SPEND & BUSINESS NETWORK
COMPANY : SAP INDUSTRY : SOFTWARE LOCATION : US
Etosha Thurman is Chief Marketing & Solutions Officer , Intelligent Spend &
Business Network at SAP .
Thurman ’ s role is to drive product marketing and solution management across SAP ’ s intelligent spend solutions and the SAP Business Network . She has been with SAP since 2016 , with the last two years spent in her current role .
She has extensive experience in software as a service , cloud commerce , financial services , customer success management , and global materials management .
She adds that it is “ a disparate process ”, with data collected manually in isolated spreadsheets , Word documents , and PowerPoint presentations .
“ This is very time-consuming ,” she says , “ and such documents never come together as an integrated collection of data .”
She adds : “ Too often once the team executes the category plan the strategy documents get shelved and there is no follow-up – no process to measure benefits or cost savings , and no opportunity to adjust the strategy .”
This is why category managers need technology that “ brings together process and data ”, explains Thurman , technology that “ provides insights into the steps that can be taken to meet the category goals .”
As for common mistakes in category management efforts , Thurman says too many organisations see it as a way to reduce cost , something she says can lead to sourcing exercises in which “ scant attention is paid to strategic supplier relationships or optimal supply allocation to achieve corporate diversity or sustainability goals . In these cases the pattern is to run a request-for-proposal and choose the lowest price .”
Thurman feels many organisations are missing out on the opportunity to conduct thorough spend data analyses , and “ as a result they cannot develop a long-term category strategy and execution plan ,” she says .
“ It is this that can lead to cost reduction , if that is the goal , but it can also incorporate other positive outcomes for the business .”
So how can organisations improve results around procurement category management ? procurementmag . com 73