We were thus very happy to have Bill present on his experience with building a new procurement team from the ground up. He took us on his journey through the process, and offered us his lessons learned through it all. Bill began with what should happen on “Day 1” of this process, starting with an honest self-assessment that, to be frank, should never really end. He then talked about “minding the gap” between perceptions of what procurement does (“they’re only focused on price,” “they operate in a silo,” “they slow us down,” “they don’t know our business or our market,” “they make us bid on everything!“), versus what procurement should actually do. Bill then gave attendees some advice on how to change those perceptions to re-position procurement as a strategic value driver.

“It is incumbent upon the CPO to engage and educate, then collaborate and execute,” he said.

Bill and his nascent team then had to face their reality. At Carbonite, they had:

• No procurement tools at all
• A decentralized, local approach to sourcing and procurement
• No visibility into spend and, therefore, savings

Thus, Bill and his team found themselves having to transform the procurement organization from glorified purchasers to strategic business partners, with or without the requisite tools.

Based on his and his team’s experience, Bill then gave some advice on how to start the actual transformation process (assess, address, and execute). Bill advised to break the plan down into several manageable steps — addressing stakeholders, real opportunities, the process, capabilities, and constraints — while keeping the bigger picture in mind.

He advised us to not “boil the ocean,” which can be tempting for any leader who’s starting out on this journey. Instead, procurement leaders should focus on collaborating with stakeholders — from the CEO to the line-of-business — getting access to any and all pertinent data, and employing data analytics and management tools to wrangle and make sense of that data.

“These,” he said, “led to impactful results and a pathway for future investment.”

Bill then talked about transformation disruptors, such as lacking resources, technology solutions, having multiple stakeholders, mergers and acquisitions, executive turnover, reorganization, and economic factors. But perhaps the biggest challenge all procurement teams have is managing data. Common data challenges for him and his team were having no formal spend reporting, no procurement support tools (again), multiple data sources with different owners, the data lacking sufficient detail. Bill then talked about making a business case for data management and analysis tools, and reiterated the need to derive valuable insights from data.

Bill then gave us some initial results from his team’s growth and transformation initiative, which included generating savings of $1.1 million to data (11%), establishing a network of stakeholders (breaking down more internal walls and establishing a regularly collaborative cadence), and continuously driving savings and process efficiencies — something that never ends and truly should never end.

Bill then closed out by providing a list of lessons learned for the audience, which are:

• Understand that there’s immense value in data — you cannot chart a course if you do not know your current position, and you can cannot adjust what you cannot measure
• Value internal stakeholder relationships — break down silos, reach across the aisle, seek first to understand and then be understood
• Continuously nurture your relationships — “a greenfield must be watered.” Once you’ve established relationships, work to communicate and collaborate and keep them aligned to your team’s mission
• Building brand is key to long-term success — in order to be known as strategic value drivers, you have to establish your team as strategic value drivers, and show up every day to prove it

We are so grateful for Bill for sharing his and his team’s experiences, and we wish them the best as they continue to grow the procurement function at Carbonite.

David Kern

Andrew Bartolini: How did you get into procurement and how did you move up into your current position today?

David Kern: I fell into procurement when I worked at Staples. I was at a point in my career where I had to decide if I wanted to work in public service (police and or fire department), or if I wanted to stay in corporate America.  While working in Staples internal audit, I had an opportunity to take on an audit of our transportation division; and at the same time I was on a path to explore becoming a police officer. I quickly found in my audit that a transportation division at Staples really needed someone to manage the transportation portfolio for its final-mile delivery, which at the time was roughly thirty million dollars in annual spend. Staples leadership offered me this unique advancement position but I turned it down and chose to stay on the path of exploring becoming a police officer.

After successfully completing the Police Academy, I was once again approached and re-offered by Staples to take over the final-mile delivery supplier oversight function.  Feeling as though I had accomplished a personal goal and could remain semi-active in helping the local community; I accepted the Staples offer and continued to volunteer as a Police officer.  Over the next nine years, I led efforts to help grow the transportation portfolio to a half a billion dollars.  It was during that course of time that I was able to recognize my own personal talents in driving value – whether it be through collaboration with vendors, or through identifying synergies to yield better service, expense, and overall healthiness for the space that I was overseeing.

AB: That’s awesome. So, it sounds like even though you were within a fairly well-established business, you really got great experience in managing a high growth business?

DK: In the span of nine years, I was able to see something later commonly known as transformation; and not even really see it – I actually lived in the middle of it.   Staples has a well-defined North American final-mile delivery footprint; as that business started to grow within North America as one of the few next-day service providers, it was critical they continuously build out network capabilities.  This included adding fleets and couriers on top of increasing the reliance on UPS/FedEx/USPS; along with other non-traditional modes of transportation. During that course of time, it was important to focus not only on domestic transportation growth, but expand into Canada and other international locations.

When you take all that explosive growth and scale into consideration, and you then layer in the purchase of Corporate Express, a large next day office supply corporate retailer, my role within transportation and transformation became instrumental overnight.  I found my passion as a change agent focused on transforming different business operations and value add services.  My mission was clear, to focus on driving a common service offering that provided the highest level of service at the lowest sustainable price. So when I hear about transformation as the new buzz word in today’s boardrooms, I quickly smile as I had an opportunity to experience transformation very early in my career – and for that I am extremely grateful.

AB: You’ve hit upon two great things: dealing with a fast-growth environment and merging organizations.  What are some of the takeaways you have in bringing two organizations together and managing that change?

DK: When two companies merge, sometimes the assumption is that the acquired company doesn’t have the best processes; and so the acquirer may assume that what they’re doing is best in class.  Taking this mindset can be a real disadvantage. Rather, taking time to seek to understand and brainstorm as a collective group, open and honestly, will often find that you both have solid best practices and process.  It’s a matter of augmentation and tweaking to get to the best process for the combined entity going forward.

In addition to just seeking common ground and best way forward, it is critical that you approach opportunities by “looking underneath the hood with a trust-but-verify” mindset.  This applies daily to procurement as we are constantly being pitched from a variety of sales folks. Information provided needs to be validated for accuracy of what is being sold and to confirm what is being purchased solves the business requirements.   So when you start to look at bringing operations of like-minded intent and structure, you’ve got to make sure that you don’t overlook what you think or what you’re accustomed to thinking is the best process – everything we touch has opportunity for improvement.

AB: So talk about your current role and what’s happening at TripAdvisor.

DK: Awesome stuff; I started at TripAdvisor just under four years ago. It was a new role – they didn’t have a procurement team. It’s been an amazing journey, both professionally and personally, being part of such a great organization. What I probably learned the most is that companies like Trip have highly talented people who are willing to just roll up their sleeves and help do whatever they can whenever they can.  It’s just fascinating to see how quickly things evolve, and how every day there’s something new to learn. Any day you’re not learning doesn’t put you behind, but it sure makes you have to catch up the next couple of days because the world is moving fast. There’s so much to learn and plenty ways to grow professionally – I truly feel very lucky to be part of the TripAdvisor team!

AB: As you look at the industry and the profession going forward, what are some of the things you see that are emerging and interesting, or some of the things that get you excited about working in the profession?

DK:  I’m excited about the profession because it seems like it’s more of a new / growth area than an established defined function.  What I mean by that is when you hear the word “procurement,” not everyone knows what it means; and for those that think they know I often get asked “what does TripAdvisor procure?” In my opinion, Procurement is simply explained as a core group of skills and experiences for which someone leverages and represent opportunities as an agent working on your behalf.  The core focus is to secure an outcome that provide sustainable value for shareholders and or customers.

Independent of the basic efforts outlined above, Procurement is becoming not only a trusted partner but gaining valuable insights into operational aspects that not everyone within an organization can see or synergizes.  Procurement professionals have a huge opportunity to acquire operational exposure and insights.  Providing such insights to other business units that may not know internal opportunities/solutions exist can be ten times more valuable than saving a few points on a contract.  I’m super excited about what procurement is becoming and will be in the future – value creation through process improvement, operational enhancements, and supplier value creation; combined driving meaningful shareholder and customer value.

AB: As an industry leader, what is some advice you can give to other professionals.

DK: One thing I love most about Trip Advisor is that we have a great culture, and a core focus on “acting like an owner.”   This allows my team to talk with people about how procurement can drive variety of benefits and solutions.  We see the operational enhancements that people don’t necessarily know exist because they either don’t know who to talk to, internally, or they don’t necessarily know where to start. Procurement can be that gateway into some really impactful things that will be meaningful to all folks – customers, shareholders, and employees.

AB: Thank you so much David!

DK: My pleasure, Andrew. I’m passionate for this space and I appreciate the opportunity to help others find Procurement and grow within their personal journey.

Post Script: Catch David’s keynote presentation, “GIG, Liquid, Agile Employee Procurement Opportunities,” on Day 1 at CPO Rising 2019 — next week!

Heidi will deliver the first keynote presentation of CPO Rising 2019 on driving “Procurement with a Purpose” – on how the procurement function is uniquely positioned within many enterprises to drive positive social and environmental change across global supply chains. It’s a topic on which Heidi is well versed, having lived and worked abroad for so many years and having experienced globalization from both sides of the world. The following is a conversation between Heidi and Andrew Bartolini, in three parts, that has been edited for brevity and clarity.

Andrew Bartolini: Back when I started working in the technology sector (late 1999 – early 2000), global sourcing meant sourcing from China, right? But now it no longer means just China, right? There are pockets of capabilities in all these formerly-developing or currently-developing countries. That having been said, do you think that it is easier to do global sourcing now because the suppliers are more sophisticated? Or is it harder because you have so many more potential competitors or potential suppliers and regions to source from? More broadly, when you think of global sourcing back when you were right there with your feet on the ground until today, what are some of the things that have changed in that process and in those relationships?

Heidi Landry: Well, I would say, as with most things, Andrew, that it’s a bit of both. I think if I take what’s become easier, there’s a lot more data and information sources available to find new suppliers and to assess their financial viability then there ever has been. On the flip side, the demands on the suppliers have become increasingly complex. It’s certainly not a matter of just delivering their goods and services; it’s much more around the total value that they deliver, including their innovation capability, their level of sophistication, and social responsibility issues, their capabilities to offer added-value services, whether it’s managing inventory, just-in-time services, or local warehousing. So while it’s easier to find those suppliers and it’s easier to access them, at least at a preliminary level through the technology that we’ve got, the set of demands we’ve put on those suppliers has really increased.

So, for our suppliers, there’s a lot of complexity in developing that to meet our company’s standard, especially with a company like Johnson & Johnson, which has a huge footprint in social responsibility. We really pride ourselves on our “Big for Good” efforts in the sourcing arena. We want to work with suppliers who meet certain criteria, or at minimum are willing to develop and expand in certain areas, particularly focused on our social responsibility goals. And that’s already table stakes, along with having very strong quality systems, robust management systems, strong supplier reliability, et cetera. So, those demands have become very complex; and of course we work in a highly-regulated industry, which has increased the complexity of identifying and qualifying the correct trading partner.

So again, looking back it used to be quite simple of a task: five or six years ago we did not have an awareness of the impact we could make on social issues through procurement, but today we do. And we strive to put our spend to use according to the principles of how we behave as our own company.

AB: Yeah, that’s right. There was such a big shift that happened about 20 years ago in global sourcing, and it continues; but the shift is back within the enterprise. And what procurement has now is an ability to amplify its linkages to key corporate initiatives, like CSR; or in some cases they become much more directly tied to revenue.

Now let me ask you this: when you think about procurement in the 2020s, what are some of the things that get you or keep you excited about working in this field?

HL: Well, I’ve never gotten tired of procurement. I know I’ve been doing it for almost all of my career, and I find that it evolves very rapidly. We’ve just been leap-frogging forward in terms of our capabilities to automate basic transactions that allow us to focus much more on where we add value in the strategic sourcing space. So as I think forward a decade from now, clearly that will continue to accelerate.

I think that we’ll enter much more deeply into partnerships with some of our key suppliers, especially in the space of co-innovation, exploring higher-enabled innovation and additional value opportunities. Our collaboration with some of those strategic suppliers will become much deeper.

And then I think we’ll become much more expert on balancing and managing our risks and our external environment. So I think we’ll see many companies pursuing a more asset-light strategy, and therefore becoming more reliant on the procurement team to provide effective management of external manufacturing networks, understanding suppliers’ unique competencies, getting the best value. And so as we develop more in that space, I think we’ll see procurement move to more of an alliance-management role versus a more standardized supplier management role, in addition to the more traditional procurement roles we play in Direct materials and Indirect/Commercial arenas.

AB: Yeah, that’s great.

Join us next week as we complete the conversation between Andrew and Heidi on the changing nature of global sourcing.

Dan Warn

Andrew Bartolini: How did you become the CPO of athena? What was your track, or path to the role?

Dan Warn: The short synopsis is that I fell into procurement and procurement consulting. I discovered that I love two main things about it: it’s one of the only functions that views the entirety of the enterprise’s spend with third-party vendors; and from that, it provides an opportunity to collaborate with every area of the business and to deliver really tangible results. I’m a results guy; I really enjoy being able to point to a set of metrics and tangible results at the end of the day. It’s a lot more than just savings, too – it’s total cost of ownership and total value which includes a whole host of “softer” metrics including customer and stakeholder satisfaction. Basically, it’s a fun function where you get to work with the whole company and at the end of the day you get to point to a very clear set of results that you delivered.

At athena, and at least a couple of times in my career, I’ve gravitated towards greenfield opportunities that are ripe for transformation because that’s where you get to see the most progress. And by definition, you need to meet all the stakeholders, starting on Day 1, to get a handle on where those opportunities exist.

AB: With those, how do you find greenfield opportunities? Is there a general approach?

DW: It’s a great question. I think it is situationally dependent, but I believe the concept of “quick win” applies to any opportunity, not just procurement. What I’ve done with every greenfield opportunity I’ve had is to take a very quick spend snapshot, make an opportunity assessment, and layer on a matrix of risk, criticality, and ease of implementation. I then target a few things that fit with willing stakeholders that are going to be less sensitive, or on commodity-based categories that haven’t been competitively bid or managed very well. In greenfield opportunities it’s been fairly easy to identify a handful of those areas. Before you even start improving “people, process, technology” (building a team, fixing process, implementing or buying technology), go deliver on four or five of those quick wins. You will gain some instant credibility allowing you to then kick off a more in-depth assessment across people, process, and technologies. I feel like it’s a pretty simple answer, but if other folks aren’t doing that, they should be (laughs).

After the quick wins, I generally start with people first, process second, and technology third. Cleary, I’ve spent a lot of time in the technology space – I’m very pro- technology, but it’s tough to lead with technology until you have a good handle on people and process. For me, hiring the right talent means hiring really analytically-savvy people that are also really good communicators. We can then leverage our quick wins to gain easier entry with our stakeholders and build their trust. Then process is something that can follow, right? Because if you have quick wins and the right people that have built trust, it’s easier to introduce more stringent process frameworks – things that people have to adhere to – because they now trust that you can deliver, and they trust that you have assigned the right person to care-take their spend category. Then once you’ve done those things, you’ve got the right people, you’re focused on the right things, and you’ve got processes that people are starting to follow, then enable that with the best technology.

AB: As you think about the talent management piece, it’s a competitive environment – particularly in the urban centers in the US. Talk more about what you look for, more broadly, in your people. For example, do you look for rich process experience, as well as analytic skills?

DW: It’s a great question. To be totally honest, I try to bring along 1-2 folks from my network that I have worked with or otherwise know to be accomplished practitioners and already possess a highly analytical skillset and the ability to communicate, or I have to go hire those people, because I need a couple of experienced people to allow me to rapidly toggle towards the raw talent. I really try to get folks that are newer to the function, but are super eager to learn, great people skills, and that have raw competencies around analytics. I sometimes look for non-traditional backgrounds – at least non-traditional for procurement – people that have been in sales and marketing, that are really good communicators, that can sell a message, and that are data savvy. Not having a ton of procurement experience is OK, because it’s important that we have the ability to teach new hires how to run a sourcing process, how to read a contract, how to negotiate price, calculate price benchmarks, and all the things we know to be important to the function. I think those things are relatively easy to teach to the right people that have the raw competencies.

AB: Do you ever consider tapping into newer talent pools, like independent contractors, or the so-called “gig economy”?

DW: I haven’t…. I think, as much as I like to consider myself an innovator, I’m a dinosaur in that I’m an ex-Army guy. I really like having a team that’s here, that’s engaged, that wants mentorship and coaching, and career goals that go beyond the job at hand. I probably have a bit of an inherent bias against the “gig economy” – somebody plugging in and out, here and there. I think it can totally work – it’s clearly working in lots of areas in the world today, just look at Uber. I just prefer to have a team. But having said that, I’m increasingly looking towards outsourced specialty service providers for more complex or unique categories, like telecom expense management. I think the GPO model for transactional tail-spend categories can deliver a lot of value without having to add a FTE. So, I don’t know why I’m not thinking about contract, temp, or gig-labor type for things that might lend itself well to that model. I just haven’t traditionally gone there.

AB: What are some of the things that get you excited about procurement from an emerging-opportunity standpoint?

DW: I think this really gets at the theme of my presentation – the value that procurement can deliver. The longer I’m in this function, the more I get excited about all of the ways we can deliver value and define how we do that, compared to ten-fifteen years ago when it was largely contract and cost-related. I see procurement continuing to move up in visibility. I see most of us now reporting to the CFO; some are reporting to the COO. I think we’re going to continue see a progression to report directly to the CEO. The entire end-to-end lifecycle of a vendor relationship (intake, pipeline, sourcing, savings, contract, better due diligence, ongoing performance management, and payables) is under the CPO’s charge, in addition to price/cost, in terms of how we determine whether relationships with the vendor are going well (or not).

I got into this because I really like the tangible nature of conducting a project, pointing to cost savings, and having a happy stakeholder. Increasingly, measuring ourselves, not in cost savings, but, “are we making our stakeholders wildly happy with their engagement with us”? which can create all kinds of definitions of value beyond pure cost savings. The longer I’m in this function, the more I see what we can and should touch and own, and that continues to broaden the definition of the value we can deliver. You mentioned [in this year’s CPO Rising research study] that momentum may be slowing. Personally, at least in the organizations that I’ve been in, I’ve seen the opposite. I see real opportunities for leadership across all aspects of third-party spend relationships. So to me that’s exciting – there are multiple ways we continue to add value as we grow our influence and visibility across any organization.

AB: Yeah – that’s awesome.

DW: Thanks, Andrew.  

Be sure to catch Dan’s keynote presentation, “How to Influence Friends and Manage Spend,” on Day 2 of CPO Rising 2019!

BOSTON, November 7 — Today, nearly 125 procurement professionals and executives will convene at the elegant Harvard Club in Boston’s historic Back Bay district to discuss best practices, learn about emerging market trends, and collaborate with like-minded peers. The third annual “CPO Rising” Summit and executive symposium, hosted by prominent research and advisory firm Ardent Partners, will feature an unrivaled lineup of speakers and presentations, all of which will serve to push the procurement function into a new era.

This week’s event, which will feature nearly two dozen procurement luminaries from large corporations around the globe (and across many industries), will tackle a vast array of exciting topics within the world of supply management. These executives, from Thermo Fisher, Shire Pharmaceuticals, Bain Capital, Rio Tinto, and more, will speak about:

• The “Age of Intelligence” (this year’s event theme)
• Data-driven procurement strategies
• The role of innovation in today’s procurement function
• Designing and building the optimal procurement operation (and procurement transformation)
• Strategic category management
• And much more!

“The procurement function of 2018 sits on the edge of an incredible transformation in its ultimate quest for business agility and enterprise-wide value,” says Andrew Bartolini, founder and chief research officer at Ardent Partners. “Today’s procurement executives have the power to leverage innovation, intelligence, and transformational thinking to become a truly agile business function. The CPO Rising 2018 Summit is the ideal forum for procurement professionals from around the world to learn how to achieve these goals.”

This exclusive summit is sponsored by Coupa, GEP, Determine, iValua, AppZen, Guidant Global, Basware, Source One, and Scout RFP. For more information on the CPO Rising 2018 Summit, please visit events.cporising.com.

About Ardent Partners

Ardent Partners is a research and advisory firm focused on defining and advancing the supply management strategies, processes, and technologies that drive business value and accelerate organizational transformation within the enterprise. The Ardent team has decades of experience publishing primary research that help business leaders in procurement, supply management, and financial operations make smarter decisions and improve their performance. To learn more about the company, visit www.ardentpartners.com.

Like so many other Chief Procurement Officers (CPOs), Steve Listzwan, the senior vice president and head of procurement at Shire Pharmaceuticals (and the recipient of CPO Rising’s 2017 Leadership/CPO of the Year award), began his career outside of the profession. He earned a BS in Civil Engineering from Union College and for the first five years of his career, Steve designed environmental engineering projects for O’Brien & Gere Engineers in Syracuse, NY. Not long after beginning his career, Steve enrolled in a part-time MBA program at nearby Syracuse University. In June 1995, with his new degree in hand, Steve took a temporary assignment within the procurement office at Merck & Co., Inc., one of his firm’s clients, covering for a maternity leave. After six months, he was offered a permanent position within the Merck procurement organization, the first of many over a six and a half year period that would have him relocate to Italy and Ireland. He capped his tenure there as a Manager in Global Procurement responsible for implementing Merck’s first electronic P2P platform.

“Merck was great for my development as a young procurement professional,” he said. “I was given great opportunities, had the luxury of a great mentor, and learned the fundamentals of the procurement profession.”

In September 2001, Steve joined Cambridge, MA-based Biogen when it was a much smaller company than it is today (at the time, it was spending only about $400 million a year and has since grown significantly). He reported into the controller of the company and established Biogen’s first strategic sourcing team. In moving from Merck to Biogen, Steve went from pharma to biotech at a time when the two industries were still largely separate (now they are often intertwined). After more than seven years, Steve left Biogen and became the Director of Global Strategic Sourcing at MedImmune (the biologics division of Astra Zeneca), headquartered in Gaithersburg, MD. In 2012, he was recruited out of MedImmune to become the Global Head of Procurement (CPO) for Novartis Vaccines, a position he’d hold until the company was purchased by GSK in 2015.

Coming Home to Shire

Steve joined Shire in April of 2015 as vice president and head of procurement (CPO). “Being at Shire has been especially interesting given that it is such an acquisitive company,” he said, adding that the company has purchased four companies since 2015. When Shire acquired Baxalta in the summer of 2016, Shire’s annual spend doubled from $3 billion to $6 billion. Steve and his team “used that opportunity to accelerate the transformation of Shire Procurement” by finding synergies between the two companies (for example, 30-40% of the total integration synergies were delivered by procurement). Steve and his team merged and reorganized the two procurement teams and “used that opportunity to create a truly world-class procurement function and deliver substantial value back to the business.”

Earlier this year, Steve and his team learned that Takeda was interested in purchasing Shire, and as a result, they are in the process of preparing for that acquisition, which they expect to close in the first half of 2019. A majority of the team is focused on continuing to drive the procurement function and delivering results for the company.  Steve has a small team that works with a team from Takeda to map out the future of the Shire-Takeda procurement operation – how they will merge, what kind of spend opportunities they intend to pursue, and standing up “clean teams” resourced by independent third parties to look for those opportunities.

The Procurement Game has Changed (and that’s a good thing!)

When Steve began his career in procurement, “it was thought of in a certain way as a transactional support function.” It’s gone from managing individual deals to managing categories and delivering total company value. For Steve, “the biggest transition has been procurement being looked at as a strategic partner by the business. That’s something that needs to be earned by procurement.” Procurement had to work hard to elevate itself to that level. Steve’s team at Shire has been very deliberate about creating a standard operating model for how the whole procurement team functions around the globe. There are four fundamental pieces:

1. Stakeholder Engagement – Formal mapping and regular scheduled interactions with key stakeholders around the company to understand spend, needs and progress initiatives that deliver value. “Stakeholder engagement is not always a top skill of the average procurement professional” Steve said, “but it’s very important to build that skill to be successful in our model.”
2. Category Management – “Procurement is the only group that has the ability to see spend across the whole company,” to see market trends, and find ways to optimize spend.  Developing multi-year global category strategies in partnership with stakeholders transforms the relationship between the procurement function and stakeholders from tactical to truly value added and strategic.
3. Sourcing Projects – Using standard processes, tools, and procurement team skills to implement strategic initiatives that are generated by the Category Management process. “The main process has stayed relatively the same over the years but the tools and techniques have advanced significantly,” Steve said.
4. Supplier Management – Partnering with stakeholders and preferred suppliers to get the most out of each relationship.

A Sneak Preview of Steve’s Main-Stage Presentation

At CPO Rising 2018, Steve will deliver a presentation entitled, “Faster, Higher, Stronger: Building the Data-Driven Procurement Athlete.” As an avid cyclist, Steve will draw parallels between athletic competition and the procurement function – how technological innovations in both spheres are used to help individual performers, teams, and their managers improve their performances and realize their potential. As Steve will illustrate, given the use of modern procurement technology platforms, there is a significant amount of performance data available to procurement professionals and their leaders. The challenge for CPOs and procurement teams, as it is for coaches and cycling teams, is to collect and leverage that data in real time in order to measure performance, create custom improvement programs, and ultimately improve performance.  Steve will demonstrate that, just as there has been significant technological innovation in sports and cycling, in particular, the procurement space abounds with innovation and robust business tools able to collect and analyze data in real-time and provide almost instantaneous visibility and control. He will then illustrate how Shire’s procurement teams use these innovations to measure and ultimately enhance their performance as individuals and as a total function.

Want to hear Steve speak at CPO Rising 2018? Register by clicking here and take advantage of standard pricing while it still lasts (expires after 11:59 PM on October 16). 

Last year’s inaugural CPO Honors Gala, which recognized Chief Procurement Officers and their teams for outstanding performance and execution over the last year, was such a smashing success that Ardent will reveal winners of this year’s industry achievement awards at the CPO Rising 2018 Summit Gala Dinner. We will present four companies with global procurement achievement awards (CPO Honors) for excellence demonstrated in these categories:

The Innovation Award: Presented to the CPO and team that have used new and innovative strategies and approaches to overcome significant hurdles.

The Technology Excellence Award: Presented to the CPO and team that have leveraged technology solutions to impact procurement operations and performance.

Best Team Performance Award: Presented to the procurement department that has excelled across the full scope of procurement operations to make a significant impact on overall enterprise results.

The Leadership Award (CPO of the Year): Presented to the CPO who has driven new performance heights as a result of their direct involvement and leadership and overall exceptional executive management.

“We distinguish top performers in all Ardent Partners’ research efforts as ‘Best-in-Class’ enterprises: from this group, our research team has identified a smaller list of procurement leaders and organizations who are notable for their transformative strategies and results.”

– Andrew Bartolini, Chief Research Officer, Ardent Partners

The CPO Honors winners will be selected based upon external nominations. If there is a CPO or other procurement leader who you think is deserving, make sure to submit your nomination here.

If you haven’t already, register for The CPO Rising 2018 Summit at https://events.cporising.comtoday!

Event Details:

CPO Rising 2018

November 7^th and 8^th

The Harvard Club (Back Bay)

Boston, MA

Register today or by August 31 to take advantage of the early bird pricing and make sure you don’t miss what is sure to be the procurement event of 2018.

Day-and-a-Half Executive Symposium to Highlight Technology, Innovation, Intelligence, and the Transformation of the Procurement Function

BOSTON — With the modern enterprise facing a new “age of intelligence,” in which data and insights are promoted as profound tools to succeed, the typical procurement function finds itself at the crux of a new world of business transformation. As other organizational groups latch onto the necessary tools, technologies, and innovations to foster growth and triumph, the Chief Procurement Officer (CPO) and its team must take the required steps to build more forward-looking, “smart” capabilities and strategies.

“Now is the time for procurement to make the strides towards a ‘smart’ function that can be a source of incredible value for the greater organization. As the group designs its next era, there is tremendous pressure to revolutionize both tactical and strategic capabilities,” said Andrew Bartolini, Ardent Partners’ Chief Research Officer. “We are thrilled to announce our CPO Rising 2018 event this November in Boston to help CPOs and other procurement executives understand how to make the next great leap and transform the way it delivers value to the enterprise.”

The exclusive event — sponsored by Coupa, GEP, iValua, Determine, and AppZen — promises the interactive exchange of ideas and cutting edge research and analysis for CPOs and procurement executives. From explosive keynote presentations to illuminating CPO panel discussions, case studies, and breakout sessions, the executive-level speaker panel will highlight procurement-led innovation within the enterprise and across the supply chain. This year’s event will also include roundtables focused on innovation, technology, and the transformation of the profession. Register for the event today at https://events.cporising.com and take advantage of early-bird pricing.

Event Details:

CPO Rising 2018 Summit

November 7 & 8

The Harvard Club

374 Commonwealth Avenue

Boston, MA 02215

About Ardent Partners

Founded in 2010, Ardent Partners is a research and advisory firm focused on defining and advancing the procurement and supply management strategies, processes, and technologies that drive business value and accelerate organizational transformation within the enterprise. Ardent Partners delivers “Research with Results.” To learn more about the company, visit www.ardentpartners.com or call us at 617.752.1728.

The summit promises the interactive exchange of ideas and cutting edge research and analysis for CPOs and procurement executives. From explosive keynote presentations to illuminating CPO panel discussions, case studies, and breakout sessions, the executive-level speaker panel will highlight procurement-led innovation within the enterprise and across the supply chain. This year’s event will also include roundtables focused on innovation, technology, and the transformation of the profession.

To register for CPO Rising 2018 (and to take advantage of early-bird pricing, which ends on August 31), click here!

To throw your hat in the ring and be considered for a speaking slot, click here!

To discuss sponsorship opportunities at CPO Rising 2018: Reach out to Ardent Partners today!

Attendees of this exciting day and a half event will receive fantastic exposure and direct networking opportunities (during the day and evening) with the key decision-makers within leading procurement departments. Attendees will also gain a view into the hearts and minds of leading CPOs and share their views and insights on how to extend organizational transformation, leverage technology solutions, and lead innovative initiatives.

The executive-focused agenda will ensure that CPO Rising 2018 maintains a high level of relevancy and maximizes the time and opportunity for attendees and sponsors. Join an expected 100-125 CPOs and other procurement and business leaders for this exclusive event, hosted by Ardent Partners.

Event Details:

CPO Rising 2018

November 7th and 8th

The Harvard Club (Back Bay)

Boston, MA

Leading Procurement Executives from Flex, Google, Biogen, and More Convene to Share Experiences and Best Practices

BOSTON, November 8 — Today, more than 130 Chief Procurement Officers and other procurement executives convened at the historic Harvard Club in Boston to discuss best practices, learn the latest trends, and network and collaborate with like-minded peers. The second annual “CPO Rising” Summit, an executive symposium, hosted by the prominent research and advisory firm, Ardent Partners, features an unrivaled lineup of speakers and presentations, all of which will are designed to advance the procurement profession and propel it forward into the next decade.

The event’s agenda, which features two dozen procurement luminaries from global corporations across many industries, will tackle a vast array of exciting topics within the world of supply management. These executives, from NASA, Google, Biogen, Flex, Medtronic, New York City, and more, will speak about:

• The Imperative to work in real time
• Creating big value from innovative big data strategies
• Driving and fostering organizational agility
• Critical procurement technology trends and innovation
• The impact of the evolving non-employee workforce (and Gig Economy) on procurement and the enterprise
• And much more!

“Today’s competitive market pressures and unprecedented innovation requires a perpetual reevaluation of current procurement operations,” says Andrew Bartolini, chief research officer and managing partner at Ardent Partners. “To keep pace with the competition, chief procurement officers must be able to quickly shift organizational priorities and leverage value and visibility from their technology investments. The CPO Rising 2017 Summit is an ideal forum for procurement leaders from around the world to meet and learn from the CPOs who have done just that.”

The first day of this two day conference includes the CPO Honors Gala dinner that presents awards to six Chief Procurement Officers and procurement teams for their outstanding 2017 performance and/or their lifetime contributions to the profession.

This exclusive summit is sponsored by SAP Fieldglass, GEP, Coupa, ZeroChaos, SAP Ariba, EC Sourcing, Acquiire, Ivalua, Determine, and Scout RFP. For more information on the CPO Rising 2017 Summit, please visit events.cporising.com.

About Ardent Partners

Ardent Partners is a leading industry analyst firm focused on defining and advancing the supply management strategies, processes, and technologies that drive Best-in-Class performance and accelerate organizational transformation for procurement and finance departments. Ardent Partners’ analysts have decades of experience conducting and publishing primary research that help  leaders in procurement, supply management, and financial operations make smarter decisions and improve their performance. To learn more about the company, visit www.ardentpartners.com.