“You have to build a business case and be mindful and purposeful about your continuous improvement and your education around the art of what is possible.”Joël Collin-Demers, Consulting Principal at Pure Procurement
Navigating the complexity of procurement technology without becoming overwhelmed by large-scale transformations and a growing number of solutions is a tall order for procurement. In this Art of Procurement podcast episode, I spoke with Joël Collin-Demers, Consulting Principal at Pure Procurement, about how CPOs and practitioners can take full advantage of the opportunity, value, and innovation that choosing the right technology stack offers without becoming mired down in solution-overload or transformation fatigue.
Here, in his own words, are some of Joël’s most salient pieces of advice for procurement as they navigate rapid digitization:
Where to Start with a Tech Roadmap
“I think they should have a tech roadmap, but I don’t think a lot of procurement organizations have a really explicit one. Often it will be IT driven, where you’re getting pushed into an ERP migration or upgrade. If you’re a digitally-minded CPO, and you’re coming into an organization, the first thing you’re going to want on the tech roadmap is a spend cube.”
Finding the Right Procurement Technology for the Business
“Think about the context of the business and the objectives. Then you can seek out the actual pieces of tech and how that fits into your overall company’s IT architecture as well as what’s available on the market. You bring all that to a head in terms of sequencing in your roadmap, based on where the biggest benefits are.”
How to Approach IT Roadblocks When Adopting New Technology
“Don’t work in a silo. Procurement has to develop a partnership with IT, because we also have to understand certain constraints or things that need to be done from an architecture standpoint to enable our roadmap and our vision. Ideally, you’d have an IT business partner dedicated for procurement who is your main point of contact.”
Using Low-Code or No-Code Solutions Responsibly
“You have to first build that trust over time with IT, because these low code or no code solutions are essentially a blank canvas where we give the user the paintbrush. You have to build maturity in procurement where you have version control and put governance in place around how you’re going to manage business processes through a low or no code tool.”
What’s Trending: Full-Suite or Single Point Procure Tech Solutions?
“I think we see there’s everything out there now, which is great because as a customer, it’s less about doing a full market analysis and being able to say, ‘what can the market do for me?’ You’ll find the answer you’re looking for on the market. Now, it’s a strategic decision procurement has to make whether they want to go niche in a vertical or go deep and be the very best, the tip of the supper in terms of innovation, which I see in some firms.”
Overcoming Procure Tech Overwhelm
“Procurement transformation is a huge scope. It’s overwhelming. You think about starting at zero, and then getting to a maturity standpoint in three to four years, and then it’s over and we’ll be this glorious new procurement organization. I think that’s the wrong way to go about it, because it introduces complexity, cost, risk, and overwhelm. Instead, you should focus on continuous improvement.”
How Procurement Can Learn From Business Process Management
“I come at things from a business process management background, and I think it has a lot to teach procurement about transformation because you have an application, which is just something to support a business process. So, you first have to wrap your head around the business process hierarchy. Then, that can inform your continuous improvement cycle cadence.”
