Blog

Many procurement organizations are undertaking projects to modernize their operations. That’s understandable. Several things have proven to be a potent combination:

Anyone who follows the news has seen the headlines about the exodus of workers from many industries dubbed as “The Great Resignation.” In September 2021 alone, 4.4 million Americans quit their jobs — a full 3% of the total workforce. While analysts suspect that many workers simply changed jobs, US labor statistics indicate a substantial percentage of the resigners are actually retiring — 2 million more than predicted. A recent Gartner Survey showed how these trends impact procurement:

Procurement and sourcing professionals who are researching advanced new procurement software often find two names that come up repeatedly: Arkestro and Fairmarkit. The two solutions aren’t necessarily in direct competition. In fact, there are even scenarios where some organizations might want to use both solutions for different aspects of their business. For example, Arkestro for sourcing and supply chain management and Fairmarkit for tail spend automation. 

Digital transformation has become an important topic for most procurement teams today. As I advise procurement leaders on how to approach digital initiatives I find myself looking back on experiences from high school and college where I was lucky enough to participate in the digital transformation of an entire community of practice: competitive debate. While there are important differences between competitive debate and procurement, I believe that readers curious about digital transformation will find the lessons I learned during my time in debate both illuminating and extremely practical.

To understand long-term transformations in supply chain and procurement technology, supply chain professionals must be able to understand present trends so they can help shape future realities. Experts believe the following predictions are viable hypotheses that we should consider for 2030.

People who make forecasts about AI assume that because AI is a virtual machine (albeit an adaptive one), that it will be good at things we’ve come to know machines are good at and bad at everything else.

Constructing an RFI (Request for Information) for an RFQ Software platform presents numerous challenges. Based on a survey of strategic sourcing leaders, here are 40 business requirements for your RFQ software – with no BS – organized around the four key sourcing personas: Procurement Leader, Buyer/Category Manager, Supplier, and Stakeholder.

In building and scaling Arkestro, our team has worked hard to create an intentional culture where people are able to set individual and team goals that align with business metrics. We aim to build a company where anyone with vision and motivation who shares our values can do their best work, where we celebrate excellence and reward impact.

Edmund Zagorin, Ken Desowitz, Brent Maas, James McGraw