Procurement Digital Transformation Trends 2022
While procurement leaders expect a return in growth shortly, disruptions including supply chain risks, inflation, talent, and other risks, including new developments in the pandemic, continue to be frequent. According to a recent global report, managing supply disruption and its impact on revenue remain procurement’s top concerns. The same report mentioned that the digital initiatives are among the most prevalent major enterprise initiatives planned for 2022 with 61% of companies having an industry related to enterprise digital transformation – more than any other type of initiative – and 39% planning a significant technology platform upgrade or new technology introduction. Let us look at a few trends that will shape procurement and sourcing in the future.
Streamlining Collaboration Tools
Procurement technology enables employees to enjoy seamless buying experiences when and if they interact with procurement. Superior internal collaboration can help enterprises increase process agility and reduce process costs. Additionally, external communication can be improved significantly to strengthen supplier relationships. In addition, enterprises can promote a customer-centric procurement process that provides a seamless purchasing experience by using the correct collaboration and communication technologies.
Interoperability Improvement
There will be a greater need for transparency as supply chains become interconnected. Many enterprises face fundamental challenges like identifying supplier or customer entities and their locations because proprietary identifiers or home-grown versions are used. Networks will need to be able to operate with one another, as there will be much catering to different aspects of B2B, such as payments, shipping, transactions, trading, and compliance.
Self Service Portals
Self Service Portals hugely improve the user experience for all involved and speed up a specific business process as dependencies on other people are eliminated. From supplier onboarding to everyday supplier interaction, a self-service supplier portal is an emerging trend in procurement. The supplier relationship is a critical path in the procurement journey. Digital transformation technologies will let suppliers see more of their process, giving them more opportunities to self-serve by accessing real-time data.
Rise of AI and Data Analytics
One of the important procurement trends shortly is the usage of AI and ML technologies. According to a recent global report, more than half (54%) of finance and procurement professionals want to invest money into AI/ML to support data-based decision-making. For example, AI and ML technology baked into specific automation solutions can even deliver supplier and spend analysis recommendations to teams without expending many resources.
Mobility and Cloud
Mobile devices, such as smartphones and tablets, have become essential business tools for procurement executives who often spend much time away from their desks. Procurement leaders are now working towards modern procurement strategies through cloud procurement solutions to enable collaboration, increase resilience, and reduce risk. According to a recent report, CPOs heavily invest in cloud-based computing to support procurement activities.
As enterprises continue to deal with the ongoing pandemic, they need to fast-track automation and digital transformation initiatives to reimagine their procurement functions or risk losing their competitive advantage.