“Procurement is at the point where they’re trying to figure out next steps on digitization, and it will be an immediate priority for everyone in the next couple of years.” - Gordon Donovan, Vice President of Research - Procurement and External Workforce at SAP

It is Gordon Donovan’s job to read every single piece of research that’s published on procurement, the workforce, and the supply chain. More importantly, it is his job to figure out what it means. As he told Philip Ideson, “I’ve got the best job in the world.”

All of this information gives Gordon a deep and comprehensive view of the global procurement landscape and the challenges and opportunities that it presents.

In this episode, Philip draws on Gordon’s depth of knowledge to discuss the findings of SAP’s recently published Economist Impact report, as well as what the research tells us about procurement’s vision, priorities, and opportunities for the future.

Listen in to hear Gordon and Phil discuss the report, which included some surprising findings, as well as:

• Why digitization tops the list of procurement’s most important priorities
• How procurement can handle increased complexity and workloads, even as headcounts remain stagnant
• Procurement’s AI maturity journey and where they are on the path to acceptance and adoption compared to other business functions

Links:

• Subscribe to This Week in Procurement
• Gordon Donovan on LinkedIn
• Read the 2024 Sap Economist Impact Report
• Listen to Gordon Donovan in a previous episode: From C-Suite Priority to Procurement
• Unpacking SAP’s 2024 Economist Impact Report
• Strategy: Managing Risk at Scale

Procurement 6 is a short podcast from Art of Procurement that publishes in the Art of Procurement feed every Friday morning at 6am US Eastern Time.

Presented by a member of the Art of Procurement team, each episode has 6 short segments that summarize the week in procurement.

Segments range from procurement tips to podcast summaries, from details of events to news or overviews of blog posts that capture our attention.

“Everyone has an opinion about facility services in your buildings, so you're always trying to accommodate multiple stakeholders and juggle multiple departments.” - Alex Carlson, VP of Facilities Management Services at Fine Tune

In the world of indirect spend management, there are few categories as complex - and high stakes - as facilities management. Delivery locations and sometimes provider networks are distributed and fragmented, making selection, implementation, and ongoing oversight especially difficult.

It is no wonder, then, that so many companies are tempted over to “the dark side” of convenience-based solutions in this category. Unfortunately, allowing third parties to manage the delivery of services may also give them more control over cost than procurement realizes.

In this episode, Kelly Barner is joined by Alex Carlson, former Vice President of Category Management within Wells Fargo’s Corporate Properties division and new VP of Facilities Management Services at Fine Tune.

His experience and advice can help your organization avoid “the dark side” and instead walk towards the many opportunities for value creation associated with this category of spend.

Listen in to learn:

• The benefits of managing costs as well as services through a cost plus model
• How to navigate the transition from service provider to client
• Unique facilities management challenges in C-store, big box retail, and office environments
• In depth category perspectives and stories of managed services survival

Links:

• Subscribe to This Week in Procurement
• Alex Carlson on LinkedIn
• Watch Again: Why is facilities management so complex?