{"id":3797,"date":"2016-12-12T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2016-12-12T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/localhost\/projects\/horsesforsources\/procurement-musings_121216\/"},"modified":"2016-12-12T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2016-12-12T00:00:00","slug":"procurement-musings_121216","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.horsesforsources.com\/procurement-musings_121216\/","title":{"rendered":"Musings on the Future of Procurement"},"content":{"rendered":"

As we dived deep into procurement for the Procurement As-a-Service 2016 Blueprint<\/a>, we had a lot of almost philosophical conversations about the future of procurement.
About the fun stuff, not the procurement grunt work like invoice processing, PO matching, accounts payable. No, about cognitive procurement, predictive analytics, procurement being completely automated and invisible.<\/p>\n

Amara’s Law concluded about the future and our estimations thereof: We tend to overestimate the effect of a technology in the short run and underestimate the effect in the long run.
Bill Gates famously paraphrased: “We always overestimate the change that will occur in the next two years and underestimate the change that will occur in the next ten.”<\/p>\n

So, here are our overestimations and underestimations for procurement in two and ten years’ time:<\/p>\n

Overestimations … within two years:<\/strong>
* Service providers successfully scale the knowledge of their scarce category experts with brilliant cognitive solutions.
* P2P platforms completely automate away manual transactional procurement.
* Suppliers are completely digitized on what we used to call Supplier Networks or Business Networks and now know as collaboration platforms.
* Service providers have adopted on-demand As-a-Service to the extreme – they don’t talk about multi-year contracts or total contract value anymore – just about number of subscribers, active users, churn, annual and monthly recurring revenue (ARR \/ MRR) growth.
* Amazon takes over the B2B Marketplace (if in Asia – Alibaba). Amazon Business is the de facto marketplace in B2B.
* If you’re looking for the Procurement department, follow the signs: Brokers of Capability.
* Competition from outside outsourcing or procurement disrupts outsourcing of specific categories – like DHL in logistics.
* With Blockchain cemented into the core processes, we also pay in Bitcoin.<\/p>\n

Underestimations, or what we’ll see (!) in 10 years:<\/strong>
* Algorithms will decide the preferred supplier du jour.
* Algorithms will determine what, how, where and when to buy, show you options and recommendations.
* No one touches an invoice or a purchase order. Blockchain and smart contracts take care of transactions.
* Some categories disappear (probably office supplies – as we go paperless, you can bring your own pen or pencil (BYOP).
* Connected assets (IoT) in value chains will tell algorithms what to buy and when.
* No need for approvals, the algorithm got it.
* Predictive analytics decide what you need – the system knows our needs better than we do.
* When I want to buy something algorithms, and analytics didn’t figure out already, I just tell Alexa to get it for me.
* Stuff will unexpectedly appear on your desk or doorstep.
* Fedex and UPS will help return stuff you, after all, didn’t need….by a drone or an Uber.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Bottom Line: The future is already here – it’s just not evenly distributed yet<\/span>
To end with the famous quote from William Gibson. All the forces impacting procurement and driving our overestimations and underestimations are here today. Some very nascent and aspirational – cognitive procurement, IoT, Blockchain, true predictive analytics. Others have been embraced by the market and broadly implemented into procurement and Procurement As-a-Service offerings – procurement platforms, supplier networks, intelligent automation. Ask yourself; will you be on the overestimated or the underestimated side of this transformation? Figure out what the future looks like for your procurement function and start preparing now or risk becoming obsolete.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As we dived deep into procurement for the Procurement As-a-Service 2016 Blueprint, we had a lot of almost philosophical conversations…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3798,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[48,52,57,836],"tags":[145,230,639],"ppma_author":[921],"yoast_head":"\nMusings on the Future of Procurement - Horses for Sources | No Boundaries<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.horsesforsources.com\/procurement-musings_121216\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Musings on the Future of Procurement - Horses for Sources | No Boundaries\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"As we dived deep into procurement for the Procurement As-a-Service 2016 Blueprint, we had a lot of almost philosophical conversations...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.horsesforsources.com\/procurement-musings_121216\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Horses for Sources | No Boundaries\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2016-12-12T00:00:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.horsesforsources.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/584e7684d09a4402655860.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2508\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1672\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Hfs\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Hfs\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.horsesforsources.com\/procurement-musings_121216\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.horsesforsources.com\/procurement-musings_121216\/\",\"name\":\"Musings on the Future of Procurement - Horses for Sources | No Boundaries\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.horsesforsources.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.horsesforsources.com\/procurement-musings_121216\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.horsesforsources.com\/procurement-musings_121216\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.horsesforsources.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/584e7684d09a4402655860.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2016-12-12T00:00:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2016-12-12T00:00:00+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.horsesforsources.com\/#\/schema\/person\/6184dbb2ae75aa3c07d7156a27e04e6f\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.horsesforsources.com\/procurement-musings_121216\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.horsesforsources.com\/procurement-musings_121216\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.horsesforsources.com\/procurement-musings_121216\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.horsesforsources.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/584e7684d09a4402655860.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.horsesforsources.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/584e7684d09a4402655860.jpg\",\"width\":2508,\"height\":1672},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.horsesforsources.com\/procurement-musings_121216\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.horsesforsources.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Musings on the Future of Procurement\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.horsesforsources.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.horsesforsources.com\/\",\"name\":\"Horses for Sources | No Boundaries\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.horsesforsources.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.horsesforsources.com\/#\/schema\/person\/6184dbb2ae75aa3c07d7156a27e04e6f\",\"name\":\"HFS\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.horsesforsources.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/795b356a84b9543f61317eda6dcb1a06\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.horsesforsources.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/horse.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.horsesforsources.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/horse.png\",\"caption\":\"HFS\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.horsesforsources.com\/author\/hfs\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Musings on the Future of Procurement - Horses for Sources | No Boundaries","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.horsesforsources.com\/procurement-musings_121216\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Musings on the Future of Procurement - Horses for Sources | No Boundaries","og_description":"As we dived deep into procurement for the Procurement As-a-Service 2016 Blueprint, we had a lot of almost philosophical conversations...","og_url":"https:\/\/www.horsesforsources.com\/procurement-musings_121216\/","og_site_name":"Horses for Sources | No Boundaries","article_published_time":"2016-12-12T00:00:00+00:00","og_image":[{"width":2508,"height":1672,"url":"https:\/\/www.horsesforsources.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/584e7684d09a4402655860.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Hfs","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Hfs","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.horsesforsources.com\/procurement-musings_121216\/","url":"https:\/\/www.horsesforsources.com\/procurement-musings_121216\/","name":"Musings on the Future of Procurement - Horses for Sources | No Boundaries","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.horsesforsources.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.horsesforsources.com\/procurement-musings_121216\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.horsesforsources.com\/procurement-musings_121216\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.horsesforsources.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/584e7684d09a4402655860.jpg","datePublished":"2016-12-12T00:00:00+00:00","dateModified":"2016-12-12T00:00:00+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.horsesforsources.com\/#\/schema\/person\/6184dbb2ae75aa3c07d7156a27e04e6f"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.horsesforsources.com\/procurement-musings_121216\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.horsesforsources.com\/procurement-musings_121216\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.horsesforsources.com\/procurement-musings_121216\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.horsesforsources.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/584e7684d09a4402655860.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.horsesforsources.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/584e7684d09a4402655860.jpg","width":2508,"height":1672},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.horsesforsources.com\/procurement-musings_121216\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.horsesforsources.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Musings on the Future of Procurement"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.horsesforsources.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.horsesforsources.com\/","name":"Horses for Sources | No Boundaries","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.horsesforsources.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.horsesforsources.com\/#\/schema\/person\/6184dbb2ae75aa3c07d7156a27e04e6f","name":"HFS","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.horsesforsources.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/795b356a84b9543f61317eda6dcb1a06","url":"https:\/\/www.horsesforsources.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/horse.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.horsesforsources.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/horse.png","caption":"HFS"},"url":"https:\/\/www.horsesforsources.com\/author\/hfs\/"}]}},"authors":[{"term_id":921,"user_id":1,"is_guest":0,"slug":"hfs","display_name":"Hfs","avatar_url":"https:\/\/www.horsesforsources.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/horse.png","first_name":"HFS","last_name":"","user_url":"","description":""}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.horsesforsources.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3797"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.horsesforsources.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.horsesforsources.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.horsesforsources.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.horsesforsources.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3797"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.horsesforsources.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3797\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.horsesforsources.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3798"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.horsesforsources.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3797"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.horsesforsources.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3797"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.horsesforsources.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3797"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.horsesforsources.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ppma_author?post=3797"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}