Hackett Group Research Points to Significant Talent and Strategy Gaps in Procurement

While supply chain managers and procurement leaders are well aware of the potentially dramatic impact of digital transformation on their operations, new research from The Hackett Group, Inc. reveals that few feel they have the necessary strategy, talent and competencies in place to seize an advantage.

Consequently, there's a gap between procurement's “transformation agenda” and enterprise-level digital transformation priorities, and the risk that this divide may widen, say researchers.

“The gap between awareness and capabilities in digital transformation is not unique to procurement. We've seen similar results in finance, HR, and even IT,” says The Hackett Group Principal and Global Procurement Advisory Practice Leader Chris Sawchuk. “Yet it is disconcerting to see that many procurement organizations are simply moving ahead in this critical development area without a comprehensive plan or the requisite talent. This is simply not a recipe for success.

The Hackett Group's research identified four key areas procurement can focus in to enable digital transformation: improving the stakeholder experience; orchestrating a procurement-as-a-service portfolio; setting a foundation of analytics-driven insight; and leveraging technology to accelerate transformation.

A complimentary version of the research is available for download, following registration, at this link: http://www.thehackettgroup.com/research/2017/social-media/key17pr/

The Hackett Group's research showed that nearly 85 percent of all procurement organizations believe that digital transformation will fundamentally change the way they deliver services over the next three to five years. The use of cloud-based applications, advanced analytics, robotic process automation (RPA), mobile computing and big data are also expected to grow dramatically, the study found.

Yet only 32 percent of procurement organizations currently have a formal digital strategy and only 25 percent have the needed resources and competencies in place today.

“Procurement has been focused on agility for several years now, and today, digital transformation is clearly a strong way to enable that, while at the same time improving efficiency and effectiveness,” says Sawchuk. “But procurement leaders need to make sure they are aware of the technology that's out there, understand which ones they want to focus on first, and build a foundation on which they can move forward.”

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