4 Reasons You Need Procurement as a Service

Source-to-Pay solutions are great. They make it easy for organizations to keep relevant documents on-hand, uncover savings opportunities, build better partnerships with their suppliers, reduce cycle times, and eliminate unnecessary tactical work. Advisory services are great too. They supplement Procurement's efforts and provide the support necessary to enter a new, more strategic era. For most businesses, however, neither provides everything. On their own, technology and advisory services leave gaps unfilled and keep Procurement from reaching its full game-changing potential.

Today's Procurement teams need support that combines the digital capabilities of a Source-to-Pay platform with the boundless expertise of hands-on advisers: Procurement as a Service (PaaS). Not convinced? Here are five reasons your organization shouldn't pass on PaaS.

Technology is an Enabler

Technology enables Procurement to optimize its processes and reach its full potential. It doesn't do these things on its own. The best, most robust Procurement software suite on the planet isn't any good at all without a skilled team to leverage it. Many organizations neglect this fact and make hefty investments in S2P suites that only confound and confuse their end users. Opting for Procurement as a Service removes this potential for disappointment by providing a team to oversee implementation and adoption.

You Haven't Asked Every Question

Going to market for a new Procurement solution can be overwhelming - even exhausting. No matter how exhaustive the process, no organization ever takes care to ask every possible question and assess every possible option. Inevitably, end users learn that this the hard way. Sooner or later, they wind up with an unexpected challenge that puts initiatives on pause and keeps them from delivering on their goals. Procurement as a Service arms you with everything you need to make proactive decisions and anticipate every possible obstacle.

Technology Evolves and So Does Your Company 

You can't set your Procurement suite up and forget it. These platforms evolve with time, providing new features and capabilities. Your team and its needs will change over time as well. Growth and reorganization will introduce new roles and changes to the market will demand new capabilities. Simply put, your cutting-edge solution won't always keep you ahead of the competition. Engaging a third-party for Procurement as a Service will keep technology up-to-date as it scales to the size and shape of your business.

Your Definition of Managed Spend Could Use Some Work

How do you define spend under management? Is it spend covered by a contract? Spend that passes through a certain number of checkpoints? However your Procurement team defines the term, they're probably at least somewhat off-base. Even spend that's "under management" is often vulnerable to maverick purchasing and rampant inefficiency. The combination of technology and consultative support provided by Procurement as a Service provides the extra visibility that most organizations can't get on their own. It provides for genuine spend management.