Additional Considerations

Procurement Focus Areas

Category Management Focus on:

  • Alignment with the Business
  • Supplier classification/segmentation
  • Setting Strategic Sourcing and Contracting priorities
  • Extracting value from the category
  • Measuring and managing performance
  • Identification of performance improvement opportunities
  • Opportunities for value realization
  • Monitor Markets for TCO Models

Sourcing Focus on:

  • Highest Impact/Critical/Complex categories
  • Global spend analysis
  • The supply/demand market dynamics
  • The models – Should Cost & TCO
  • Department’s position in the market
  • Technical requirements
  • Strategy Development
  • Negotiations strategy & process
  • Change management

Contract Management Focus on:

  • Managing contract terms and conditions
  • Tracking supplier performance
  • Providing feedback back to the category management, market intelligence and sourcing teams
  • Review compliance and track rogue spend
Required Skills for Category Managers

As digital transform continues to change the way we work, the skillsets for Procurement Buyers and Category Managers continue to evolve. Digitization is reducing the need for Category managers to act as administrators, and allowing for more focus on strategic activities. Thus the skillset of procurement professionals need to evolve, accordingly.

As procurement professionals shift to digital ways of working, current talent gaps to address include, Analytical Skills, Knowledge of Technology, Stakeholder Management, Negotiation Skills and Strategic Planning.

As a part of a long term skills development plan, and in building capabilities to  in government, procurement authorities and organisations should look to building these skills across the different Procurement Process Areas.

Leveraging eProcurement

More information on Cloud Procurement : Moving to a cloud eProcurement solution ensures an organization can enjoy the benefits illustrated below:

Procurement Project Management Considerations

It is job of the Procurement Project Manager to balance the “project triangle.” This mean ensuring that projects address the right scope, are delivered on time, and within the right budget or resource mix. For Procurement Project managers, the ability to keep the project triangle in balance is critical, to ensure that Procurement is seen as a value enabler to strategy execution, instead of an ‘administrative hold-up.”