In this post, we talk about how new technology pops up in the market every day. In order to succeed long term, your business needs to have a strategy on what technology is important to transforming your business.
Procurement
In our opinion, the most profound new technology category in the procurement world, is how we connect with our suppliers. This connectivity covers key functional areas, such as sourcing, master data management, purchase to pay, supplier relationship management, and security of supply. The most critical aspect of all of these capabilities, is the ability to share a single basis for how the data is managed. World-class, disparate systems that don’t talk to one another, severely limit the exponential value that they could provide if the data was not in silos.
Once you have some or all of these technologies in place, you can begin to harness efficiencies in how you manage your suppliers - including how they manage themselves within your platforms, whether it’s managing their proposals or their bank information so that they can be paid. If you are at a stage where you have a formalized supplier relationship management program, all of your strategic “views” of your suppliers will roll up to once place. No more data dumps and sloppy PowerPoint preparation.
Travel & Meetings
If there is continuous innovation in the procurement tech space, the pace of innovation in the travel & meetings industries is certainly breakneck. The travel & tourism industry had a staggering $2.3 TRILLION USD impact in 2017, including the support of 108 Million jobs. It’s no surprise that this industry, which operates largely on technology from half a century ago, is ripe for disruption.
As your company begins its travel strategy and program, a key platform for data, much like in the pure procurement space, is absolutely necessary. This central repository could likely be your booking and expense tool, such as Concur. There are other new players in the market however, which may make the choice of where to warehouse your data quite the challenge. If your focus is on “value,” then platforms like TripActions or Rocketrip may be exciting. If you are focused on compliance, technology from companies like Moneo or Appzen might be where you will turn. At the end of the day, it’s still important that all of your tools connect and you house one easily accessible, consolidated set of data.
The largest challenge in both areas, is working with tools and workflows which are flexible in nature. The risk of “lock-in” is huge and the inability to switch platforms or suppliers can limit the growth of your business in the future.
In terms of red flags to be on the lookout for, there are two in our experience to be most wary of. One is simply being promised a solution that cannot be delivered. Many technology companies promise the world in order to generate early revenue to justify additional external investment, turning those funds into additional development. Don’t fall into this trap. Performance guarantees are a simple contracting method that can help you protect your own investment. The second red flag is the “push and pass”. This is a common practice in the tech industry – a sharp sales guy diligently details a set of requirements that can be met and upon contract signature, promptly disappears. Once the on-boarding process begins, those detailed requirements are nowhere to be found at the supplier and none of the technical team can figure out why certain things were promised - because they simply aren’t available. You’ve been warned!