TECHNOLOGY
TECHNOLOGY
71% OF FIRMS FIND THE ENTERPRISE SYSTEMS ARE DISPARATE AND NOT INTEGRATED
7% OFCOMPANIESEXPRESS TOTALSATISFACTION WITHTHEWAYTHEIR IT SYSTEMSANDTECH- NOLOGYSUPPORTTHE SUPPLIERMANAGEMENT LIFECYCLE
8% OF ORGANISATIONS USE TECHNOLOGY TO TRACK AND NURTURE SUPPLIER INNOVATION
Summary
Only 7%of organisations feel technology fully supports SRM
55%of leaders get adequate technology support for SRM Fig. 33. Where you are using IT systems generally how well do they support the supplier management lifecycle? Leader Fast follower Follower
Fig. 32. Where you are using IT systems generally how well do they support the supplier management lifecycle?
Investment in information technology is still an area where SRM struggles. Only 7% of firms say they are totally satisfied with the way their IT systems and technology support the supplier management lifecycle. At the same time, 46% say their technology investment fails to support the supplier management lifecycle. Leaders are far more likely (27%) to have their supplier management activity fully enabled by technology than followers (2%). Very few organisations are using technology to manage compliance with their sustainability standards (18%) or to better enable innovation (8%). Seven out of 10 organisations find their enterprise systems are disparate and not integrated when it comes to getting data to manage supplier relationships. Innovationmanagement (21%) and CSR/sustainability management (17%) are low priorities when it comes to SRM technology investment. Given the dynamic technology landscape, there is a huge opportunity for SRM teams to become more effective by harnessing the latest enterprise application software.
Currently fails to adequately support the supplier management lifecycle
Adequately supports most aspects of the supplier management lifecycle
46%
55%
Adequately supports most aspects of the supplier management lifecycle
45%
IT and online platforms are transforming the very landscape of business. They help organisations automate processes, collaborate on a global scale and understand their customers in ever greater detail. For the last ten years, the IT industry has been heralding the era of big data: the idea that analysis of exponentially growing volumes of data can help predict demand and forecast risk. Artificial intelligence, the internet of things and augmented reality are now within the grasp of every business at low capital cost: cloud computing has shifted the risk-reward equation when it comes to investing in new technology. But the application of technology resources to manage supplier relationships, has been sadly lacking since we began this SRM study ten years ago, and the results from 2018 show little progress.
27%
33%
Currently fails to adequately support the supplier management lifecycle
Don’t know
11%
18%
Fully supports the supplier management lifecycle
31%
7%
53%
Other (please specify)
Fully supports the supplier management lifecycle
3%
27%
17%
Nearly half of respondents feel let down by technology support for SRM
2%
Only a very small minority (7%) of respondents express total satisfaction with the way their IT systems and technology support the supplier management lifecycle. While a third describe support as adequate, 46% are unhappy with the level of support provided. Leaders are far more likely to have their supplier management activity fully enabled by technology (27%) compared with fast followers (17%), and followers (2%). More than half of followers (53%) say their technology investment currently fails to support the supplier management lifecycle.
Don’t know
0%
5%
14%
Other (please specify)
0%
2%
4%
Compliance to sustainability unsupported by technology
Around three-quarters of respondents use both contract management and supplier on-boarding/master data systems as part of SRM. But that is where support from enterprise software ends. Very few organisations are using technology to manage compliance to their sustainability standards (18%) or to better enable innovation (8%). From our earlier research we know that most organisations rely on DIY solutions built on Microsoft Excel or SharePoint to manage supplier relationship activities. These are excellent desktop tools. They are not enterprise software. Businesses who use desktop tools for enterprise management very quickly find they hit problems with inconsistent, out- of-date information held on local drives. It is information which is not fit for purpose in managing multi-million-dollar supply deals or critical corporate risk.
46% of organisations say their technology investment currently fails to support the supplier management lifecycle.
74
STATE OF FLUX
2018 GLOBAL SRM RESEARCH REPORT
75
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