EDITOR’S NOTE: I am now starting to build my Analyst Solution Map of ten solution providers who I not only see as leaders in their specific area of service but will, through the use of an agent-based model, ensure successful implementations and promised practitioner outcomes. In short, my creditability as an analyst will be and is linked to your success. I call this the analyst assurance, and I will leverage my 40-plus years of high-tech procurement experience and expertise to ensure the implementation and ongoing return of a cohesive solution ecosystem. Leading Education Institution Negotiat ..read more

“When ERP was in its heyday, CEOs and business executives wanted reliable and integrated solutions, so they seized upon ERP as the way to provide this,” said Mr. Kyte. “Business stakeholders still want these same qualities, but now they assume that these qualities will be present in any software solution, and their requirements have switched to the twin concerns of lowering IT costs and seeking increased flexibility. A system that is not sufficiently flexible to meet changing business demands is an anchor, not a sail, holding the business back, not driving it forward.” – Gartner Says ..read more

Think about it for a moment – a giant, multinational global company that had a $20 million contract with us was unwilling to meet with me to even talk about a price reduction. My only reasonable response was to tell him that I was prepared to walk away. My reasoning was that true respect between partners is when they listen and talk to one another to reach a mutually rewarding outcome. If you don’t have that, then you are little more than a transaction on a balance sheet – easily replaced. – Yahya Abbas, Founder & CEO YaYA Food Corp. I have had the good fortune of getting an advanced copy ..read more

“You don’t need to be the CEO to make an impact. Start with your team, lead by example, and let the results speak for themselves.” – Simon Sinek (LinkedIn post by Terri MacLeod, Senior Director of Procurement, Nutrien) Since the early 1980s, there have been far too many times following a lecture or webinar, procurement professionals have asked me the following: I agree with everything you say and am so “pumped” to apply what you presented when I return to the office. However, senior management will not listen to or act on it—at least, they haven’t to this point. They continue to see us as a c ..read more

The other day, my teenage daughter excitedly told me about great music from a group she had never heard of. Even though I am turning 65, I am always interested in what my kids are into, so I said let’s hear it. The sound was as familiar as the words: “She loves you, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah!” They are called the Beatles, she said. What do you think? When I read your post on Orchestration and Intake, Pierre Mitchell, it was like deja vu. I felt the same way now as I did when my daughter had her great revelation. Here are the links to three articles referencing posts I wrote two decades ago. What ..read more

“Gartner states that 85% of AI projects fail due to unclear objectives and obscure R&D project management processes. Also, 87% of R&D projects never get to the production phase, while 70% of clients indicated minimal or even no impact from AI. Nov 6, 2023” – Neurons Lab Should analyst performance be assessed by the successful implementations of the providers they list in their Dynamic Analyst Solution Map? What do you think? Here are two recent posts that prompted today’s poll: April 20th, 2024 – Why we need a DraftKings for the procurement world April 22nd, 2024 – DraftKing ..read more

This past Saturday, I wrote the post Why we need a DraftKings for the procurement world. As with any post, I never seek consensus, only meaningful dialogue that satisfies one of my main objectives being “I would rather get it right than be right!” To that end, I am going to share the following excerpt from just one of the many comments within a growing discussion stream on LinkedIn. Chris Smith, MBA, PMP • Procurement, Supply Chain, Operations & Finance Professional Leader @ City of Alexandria | Executive MBA | Program & Project Management | Consultant | Public Procurement Evan ..read more

You go to two different grocery stores – Store A and Store B. Which product do you buy? Store A Store B Beyond price, which one of the two provides the best value? Now, how would you respond if you were told that you could only buy from Store B because they are a preferred store? Vendor Irrationalization Before answering that question, read the following excerpt from an April 2009 paper, “Utilizing an Intelligent Filtering Platform to Enhance Contract Performance (A Procurement Insights Knowledge Leadership Publication).” “A 2004 automotive study by the Power Transmission Distributors A ..read more

EDITOR’S NOTE: Today’s post is inspired by an energized discussion on LinkedIn prompted by a post by Michael Lamoureaux. Join in using the following link. Michael Lamoureux, you make excellent points. We are not even talking about the companies that are not on the radar screens but have been out there for 20 to 30 years and have a solid and loyal client base. Let’s take ESG providers (see image below). How many different company logos do you count? So, let’s say you have an analyst specializing in ESG providers. Have that one analyst choose his top 10 providers from the “Ecosystem Map.” In th ..read more

Earlier today, I attended a LinkedIn Event hosted by Evalueserve. I came across it by accident, but I am glad that I did. Titled “Revolutionize Your BI: Digital Transformation Stories from the Real World,” the panel included Whirlpool’s Gowri Namboodiri, Caterpillar‘s Ben Newman, and Coyote Logistics‘ Director, Supply Chain Engineering & Analytics Jay Zaleski. The moderator was Evaluserve’s Vice President, Gabriel Keeler. Not long after I signed in, I posted the following question: “I noted that Gowri Namboodiri said that her team led with ascertaining the collective KPIs before introduci ..read more