Virtually all procurement and purchase-to-pay organizations surveyed by The Hackett Group consider source-to-pay automation and cloud technology only as an efficiency play. Looking at it only as a way to take paper out of processes misses its far greater potential when applied to more complex, higher-value activities such as sourcing, spend analysis, contract management and supplier risk management. By taking a limited, efficiency-based view of the technology, procurement often sees its proposals overruled in favor of higher company priorities. It’s incumbent on procurement leaders to make the business case for source-to-pay technology based on its ability to deliver better access to data to inform decision-making; strengthen supplier relationships that drive delivery improvements; and uncover earlier warnings about emerging risks – benefits that will far outweigh (and outlast) savings from a simple reduction of human labor.

Contributors: Ivalua, The Hackett Group
Categories: Whitepaper
SRC Type: eSourcing and Tools, Outsourcing, Procurement Operations, Procurement Outsourcing / Transformation