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SOLUTION INTEGRITY The solution should have integrity which is character- ised by a number of factors: › › Integration within the platform and with organisa- tion enterprise wide solutions – to ensure transparency and productivity. › › Secure hosting with leading security protocols and back up – to protect. › › Robust user roles and permissions, user name and password protection – to have clear roles and accountability. › › Intuitive user experience – to improve usage of the technology. › › Self-certification and data ownership by business and suppliers – to empower users. IMPLEMENTATION AND ADOPTION CHALLENGES In practice, most users of SRM technology would be the operational users and owners of the supplier relationship - that is, those out in the business. We believe procurement’s role should be to own the technology (and the processes and governance models), but it does not need to always own the rela- tionship with the supplier. In simple terms, procurement is best placed to provide the operational users with a framework for how the supplier should be managed, but the day to day management remains the responsibility of the business. Clearly not all suppliers warrant an SRM programme or even a performance management programme. Effort should be prioritised through supplier segmen- tation and a scalable approach needs to be adopted. No matter how well a system solution is designed and what it is advertised as delivering, user accept- ance and adoption can always be improved. This could be overcome by effective leadership and communication, gaining early user buy in, especially with suppliers, to the advantages of the technology, and educating them on how it helps deliver business value and their objectives. This can be combined with the inclusion of personal objectives related to the discipline of working in the system and maintaining it, and of course the related reward and recognition. SRM TECHNOLOGY – CHICKEN OR EGG? While it is counter to conventional thinking to invest in technology early in the programme, we have seen a number of benefits from a technology led approach to implementing SRM: 1. Provides a clear and tangible focal point for the SRM programme. 2. Ensures SRM is definable (it no longer depends on individual stakeholders’ perception of SRM, for example ‘more business meetings’ or ‘tighter KPIs’).
3. Provides structure, giving the SRM lead the ability to use the technology as a framework to ensure activities are being carried out, leaving the SRM team to focus on relationship development, and coaching the business and respective suppliers on how best to work together. 4. Enables structured, timely escalation and reporting throughout the organisation of risk and supplier performance. 5. Supports policy, regulatory and compliance requirements. 6. Drives consistency on how suppliers are being measured, managed and treated (and a consistent ‘supplier experience’). 7. Progress in SRM can be tangibly measured both at a supplier level and programme level. 8. Aids identification, evaluation and implementation of supplier innovation. 9. Gives a clear line of sight between contract, risk, performance and relationship. 10. Increases collaboration between buy and sell side teams across the business, which ultimately improves productivity and performance. Increasingly, organisations are looking to create or re-invigorate SRM activities using technology as the catalyst for change. This is challenging the accepted wisdom that investment in SRM technology should be made only when the SRM governance and processes are in place. With leading organisations in our research demon- strating the importance of technology as part of successful SRM activities, technology implementa- tion becomes less about when and more about how. New wisdom may increasingly be shaped by a neces- sity to accelerate change, and embrace new social collaboration and mobile technologies that enable procurement to deliver more value from SRM. Connecting, collaborating and creating. Article by Lance Younger, CEO at State of Flux Technologies. Call Lance on +44 (0)207 842 0600 or email him at lance.younger@stateofflux.co.uk if you would like to know more about our awarding-winning* solutions for managing suppliers and to request a demo.
* Awarded a prestigious Gartner Cool Vendor status for our market-leading Supplier Management Platform.
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