That’s the question explored by Bonfire CEO Corry Flatt in a recent feature on Future of Sourcing.  

It may sound farfetched to those outside of the procurement world. However, as Public Procurement Month comes to a close, there’s no better time to consider how procurement can be part of the solution to some of the biggest challenges facing the world.

Public procurement’s footprint

Still skeptical? Consider the following statistics:

• Global public procurement spend is estimated at $8.5 trillion USD annually
• 13 – 15% of gross domestic product (GDP) in OECD countries is spent through a procurement process

Contrast this with the World Economic Forum’s estimates for the expenditure required to tackle major global challenges:

• $116 billion to wipe out hunger,
• $26 billion to provide basic education to all children, and
• $8.5 billion to eradicate malaria.

Given the scale alone, it’s clear that public procurement, and its core principles of fairness, transparency, and best value, can have a major impact on the fabric of society. The ripple effect of responsible and ethical spending decisions extends beyond the direct end users, to the supplier community and wider society.
From increasing a community’s economic capacity through the involvement of minority-owned businesses, to promoting more sustainable industry by including environmental criteria in the purchasing decision, procurement teams can have a major impact on the world around them.

Challenges to overcome

However, there’s a clear gap between procurement’s potential impact and the status quo in most public organizations:

• Only 26% of public sector procurement leaders believe that their procurement function is highly effective, and that procurement is highly regarded internally and seen as a key business partner contributing significant strategic value
• Technology adoption is low, with only 39% of procurement leaders reporting that their digital strategy helps them deliver on objectives and improve enterprise value

The digital transformation that has brought exponential efficiency gains to many functions has been slow to materialize in procurement. In many cases, procurement is still seen as a back office function, with staff members’ time monopolized by administration and transactional work, leaving little time or energy for innovation and process improvement. After all, it’s hard to think about changing the world when you’re buried in paperwork.

How technology accelerates procurement’s impact

Adoption of technology is a key piece of the puzzle when it comes to procurement’s impact. As the pace of technological advancement accelerates, it is crucial for teams to begin the process of modernization in order to take advantage of game-changers such as blockchain and AI.

It begins with leaving behind paper and offline processes that are a drain on staff time and an obstacle to collaboration.

“By taking a first step toward digitizing the procurement process with something as simple as an e-sourcing platform, teams can eliminate many of those ailments while introducing collaboration, data insights, healthy competition among vendors, transparency and compliance,” notes Flatt. “The compounding effect of utilizing procurement software for smarter decision making has the ability to lead to material improvement and an overall better world for people.”  

Once digitization is underway, the data that was previously scattered in spreadsheets and filing cabinets becomes centralized and actionable. This unlocks the potential to apply artificial intelligence and blockchain to procurement for greater impact.

Olinga Taeed of Birmingham City University, a leading researcher on the applications of blockchain for social good, is enthusiastic about the role of procurement in enabling  values-driven purchasing. He writes:

 “My honest belief is that procurement will be the single largest instrument in the world to change the world – children will say they want to be a procurement officer because they will want to change the values of the world – what we buy, what we eat, what we sell, the values by which we transact. Blockchain and AI will change our processes dramatically.”

What is your organization doing to build towards this future?

Read the full article in Future of Sourcing.  

Fair and open competition is fundamental to public procurement. However, from a vendor’s perspective, public sector bids and RFPs can seem anything but open, thanks to the complex rules and cumbersome submission processes.  

The reality is that many organizations are inadvertently excluding vendors from their opportunities: not through any policy violation or compliance issues, but simply due to the difficulty and hassle of doing business with the organization.

There are many barriers for vendors in public procurement. It starts with the challenge of finding open opportunities in the first place and continues throughout the submission process: interpreting legalese-filled forms, spending hours by the photocopier collating copies, paying for costly shipping, and facing disqualification for postage delays or other wild cards. At the end of the day, many qualified suppliers decide that it’s simply not worth it.

Uncompetitive RFP projects on the rise

Unfortunately, research shows that this problem is worsening rather than improving. The State of the RFP Benchmarking Study, which looked at RFP processes in 190 organizations in North America, found that in 2017, 16% of projects received only one submission. This is a 3% increase from the previous year. Furthermore, 38% of projects received only two submissions, a 5% increase from previous years.

Other studies that included both bids and RFPs have reported even higher numbers, with one study showing that 25% of tenders received only one bid.

A lack of competition signals that your processes are not truly as open and transparent as they should be, but that’s not all — it also seriously impedes your ability to ensure best value.

The price of poor competition in your RFPs

Economists show that the number of bidders in a procurement influences the relative difference between expected price and award price, confirming what most procurement professional already know: more competition equals better prices.

In a typical fixed scope, price-only procurement, one additional bid can result in 3% cost savings. For a more open-ended type of project with defined outcomes but flexible scope, that can be much higher at 8% or more.

For public sector teams under pressure to maximize funding and reduce costs, accepting the status quo of two or three vendors per project is no longer feasible.

How eProcurement software helps improve RFP competitiveness

1. Reach more vendors.

To increase competition, you need to get your opportunities in front of more vendors. Newspaper advertisements and Excel-based vendor lists are a limited and outdated way of reaching vendors in today’s connected world. Clients using Bonfire eProcurement platform have reported a 5x increase in the size of their vendor database. Here’s why:

• Online advertisement and submission makes it easier for vendors all over the country to find and submit to opportunities, removing geographic limitations.
• Buyers can tap into a large pre-existing network of vendors who do work for hundreds of other public organizations.
• Buying teams can invite vendors by commodity code or location, notifying relevant vendors of your opportunities without any manual work.

2. Make it easy for vendors to participate.

Once vendors are aware of your opportunities, it’s up to procuring organizations to demystify the rules and regulations and remove barriers to participation, so vendors have every chance of succeeding.

Here’s how eProcurement software platforms help:

• One central location for vendors to find opportunities, register, and view all details and documents.
• In-platform Q&A and vendor communication so vendors can easily get answers to questions and stay abreast of all addenda or clarifications.
• Structured step-by-step submission to reduce error and ensure complete submissions.
• Online submission removes the cost and expense of printing and shipping, as well as risk of shipping errors, lost packages, etc.
• Instant confirmation of bid receipt, for peace of mind.

3. Visibility into your vendor community through up-to-date records.

Keeping up-to-date vendor lists is a constant struggle for procurement teams, made even more difficult when you’re doing it with paper forms or email and Excel. However, without clear visibility into your vendor community, it’s impossible to know where to invest vendor outreach or other growth initiatives.

eProcurement software provides:

• Easy online vendor registration with custom fields to collect and auto-expire vendor information.
• Visibility into vendor behaviour: how many vendors have viewed your opportunity, how many submit, what time they make their submission.   

Your ability to deliver best value to taxpayers depends on sufficient competition. See how Bonfire could help you get more vendors involved with your opportunities in a 20-minute demo webinar.

Bonfire is celebrating International Women’s Day by recognizing our female team members, sharing their experiences in tech, and focusing on how we can all work towards this year’s theme of #BalanceforBetter.

Women make up almost half of Bonfire (46%) — we’re always striving for balance. We’re happy to share insights on Bonfire’s female force across the organization, and yes, we’re acknowledging that there is still some disparity in a few of our departments.

There are many women making a difference and driving results at Bonfire, and while we wish we could have shared everyone’s perspective, we asked a few members of the female force at Bonfire to join the conversation on advancing women in the workforce.
We heard from:

• Maddy Currie, Senior Full Stack Developer (and the first female team member at Bonfire!)
• Liu Yang, Product Manager
• Melissa Nicolas, Business Development Representative
• Kim Veenstra, VP of Finance
• Meghan Wahab, Product Designer
• Whitney Chen, Client Support Agent

1) What would you tell your younger self about work?

Maddy: Diversify your skills early, in any direction, because if you have the experience to bring to the table that others don’t, you will think of solutions that others can’t. And trust your intuition; your gut feelings are based on a lot of information your rational mind isn’t aware of, so by listening to it you can avoid risks and take advantage of opportunities that you might otherwise miss.

Kim: You don’t have to know the answer to everything but what is important is having a good work ethic and taking the initiative to figure things out and get things done. I’d also tell my younger self not to complain so much when picking stones or helping with hay season on the farm as it provided me with the work ethic required to succeed.

Whitney: Contrary to popular belief, it’s okay to not be outstanding or the best. You’re going to see a lot of young women out there killing it, especially in tech, and you’re going to hear a lot of comments about how a woman is “not a real dev” or a “fake gamer” unless she has completed a dozen complicated side projects, or works at Google or Riot Games, or knows at least 5 obscure facts about a game she loves to play. Screw that. Just do your best, whatever your best is, because at the end of the day how you feel about your work is what matters.

Meghan: Ask a lot of questions — especially from people in different walks of life. You never know who will give you the most insightful yet veiled advice or guidance. There’s no such thing as an obstacle unless you think there is one. Have trust in yourself and treat your life like an adventure — be gritty, take risks while still maintaining a sense of security.
It’s easier said than done, but don’t fret about your future career path. Eventually life figures it’s s*** out and helps you connect the dots.

2) Why is a gender-balanced workforce essential for the tech community to thrive?

Melissa: I graduated from electrical engineering, which tends to have more men than women. Even from my past jobs working as a field engineer, the workforce was primarily more male than female. Now that I work in tech, it’s easy to see those nuances that I otherwise wouldn’t have noticed earlier, and I’m a firm believer that a diverse workforce creates different views and also welcomes more opportunity to solve various problems in the best way.

Liu: A diverse workforce in any sector also makes us all better people by giving us empathy for other human beings that are different than ourselves. It makes us less selfish. An ethical workplace retains ethical and happier workers who are more loyal to the company.
In tech specifically, we are automating things humans do. It’s too easy to imagine a world where technology runs the world. A diverse workforce in the tech sector would provide a better sounding board to the visions of tech companies. Our products could better serve our customers and cause fewer unintended consequences.

Kim:  I believe having a gender-balanced workforce is essential in bringing together different perspectives and experiences that should be shared. There are several studies that prove that having a gender diverse workforce leads to stronger financial performance and is key to high growth companies. I’ve witnessed this proving true at Bonfire given its executive team — I thoroughly enjoy the discussions we get into with the varying perspectives and approaches on the team from our diverse backgrounds.

Maddy: Gender balance in the workforce is essential for the tech community because women and men have different perspectives and ways of thinking about our common problems. By coming together we can combine all of our experiences to invent new solutions. Stereotypically, success in tech requires traditionally “masculine” strengths, like logic and critical thinking, ambition, and competition. To be fair, those traits are very important, but success also requires traditionally “feminine” qualities: compassion, aesthetics, communication, and cooperation.

3) What does the tech community need to do to realize the goal of a gender-balanced workforce?

Whitney: I think we as a community can start by recognizing that women with technical skills and roles are “valid” and “legitimate” regardless of their skill level or portfolio. And at an individual level — and this goes for women too — we can check ourselves during a questionable interaction with others by asking, “If this person was the opposite gender of what they currently are, would I be acting/reacting this way?” There’s a lot more that needs to be done, but I think this would be a good start!
Liu:

• Be family friendly. This is a pipe dream, but can you imagine providing daycare on site at work? Someday we might get there. But how about involving children during more company events?
• Minimize the role of alcohol as part of company culture. This might be controversial, but drinking should not be a prerequisite for networking with your colleagues. When it becomes the primary channel of social engagements in a company culture, those who do not engage will lose out. These, statistically, are women. For more on this: Stop (Silently) telling your Female Coworkers to Drink More.
• Provide mentorship. This would help recruit and grow men and women alike.

There are many many more things that can be done. Start anywhere!

Learn more about life at Bonfire.

In honour of public procurement month, we’ve gathered insight from top procurement professionals on their best advice for a career in public procurement, as shared in previous webinars and blogs. Browse these quotes for motivation and perspective as you chart your own procurement career path.

Collaboration is key in procurement

Internal customer satisfaction was rated as the most important measure of success by public sector CPOs in Deloitte’s 2018 survey. Understanding stakeholder goals and providing value through change management and project management is a crucial part of the job—but not always the easiest part. Here are two perspectives on the importance of taking a customer-centric approach:

“For me it’s about serving. I am serving these different departments to help the municipality do the best it can. Going into it with a servant heart and getting to know all the different operations within the municipality — if you don’t have a passion or desire for that, it’s probably going to be a hard job. But if you like being involved and supporting, then it is going to be a great thing to come to work every day.”

• Travis Ratsoy, Procurement and Assurance Coordinator, Town of Stony Plain

Be willing to talk to people, understand their viewpoint, get out of your office and meet people face to face.

• Travis Temeyer, Director of Purchasing, Eastern Michigan University

Conflict and difficult conversations happen

At the end of the day, procurement professionals can’t say ‘yes’ to every request, nor will their decisions please all parties. These two pieces of advice will serve you well in your procurement career to ensure conflicts resolve with a productive solution:

What I have kept in the back of my mind, in my experiences throughout 18 years of service, is that the vast majority of people that are in public service are good people who are trying to do the right thing. We may argue about the way in which we get things done. But in general, no matter what side of the aisle you may be on, everybody is trying to do the right thing.
We can’t look at our functions through the lens of a critic, thinking that people have the worst intentions. We have to put policies in place to prevent those things, but not at the expense of those that are trying to do the right thing. I keep that in mind every day of my work.

• Joel Neaveill, Director of Purchasing, Louisville Metro Government

Don’t take anything personally. During negotiations or difficult parts of the processes, remember it’s not about you. Focus on the process. In the legal field, a lot of things are very adversarial, but procurement is not like that. You’re working towards a mutually beneficial agreement. In the end, you want to be on the same page.

• Amy Tejirian, Procurement Officer at BC Net

Procurement has an organization-wide impact

The speed and effectiveness of the procurement process has a big impact on your organization’s ability to meet their goals. Here’s some inspiration to help other teams own their impact:

It’s important to remember that procurement influences the profitability of every area of the organization. We have direct influence over the business operations, and we need to capitalize on our expertise. Procurement is known for staying in the shadows — we need to self-promote a little bit and make sure people know how important our function is. You only do that by being willing to take some risks.

–Tracey Ens, Director, Procurement Services, Wilfrid Laurier University

More advice to advance your procurement career

When it comes to your procurement career, you are in the driver’s seat. However, it can be an uphill battle to get the resources and tools you need to thrive, whether that’s funding to attend a conference or a new software to cut down on paperwork.

In our webinar “Invest in your procurement function for better outcomes organization-wide,” special guest Paul Brennan, founder of ProcurePath and Director of Purchasing for County of Rockland, provides advice from 25 years as an educator and practitioner to help procurement teams successfully advocate for the support they need to advance their careers and the profession. Watch the webinar on-demand now.

Global public procurement spend is estimated at around $8.5 trillion USD annually.

While that number sinks in, consider that public procurement represents an average of 13% of GDP and makes up about one third of total government expenditures in OECD countries.

It is hard to truly fathom the impact of this spend on individuals and businesses around the world. It is equally mind-boggling to think that behind these massive numbers are procurement professionals working diligently to ensure transparency, fairness, competition, and best value for public funds.

Public procurement month, designated by NIGP, presents an opportunity to recognize the importance of this work and the impact it has on our society. 

The impact of public procurement

At Bonfire, we are proud to work hand-in-hand with public procurement teams to modernize their sourcing process, a partnership which gives us a front row seat into the crucial role that procurement teams play in delivering the services and infrastructure that make up our public lives.

Procurement remains behind the scenes for the most part (and let’s face it — for most public officials, ending up in the headlines is something to be avoided at all costs). That’s why it’s important to take this time to promote the ‘good news stories’ of procurement! 

Learn from peers and advance your profession

We’re celebrating this month by bringing you an educational webinar presented in partnership with leading practitioners in the field. 

Invest in your procurement function for better outcomes organization-wide

Special guest: Paul Brennan, founder of ProcurePath and Director of Purchasing for County of Rockland
Procurement is gaining recognition as a strategic value driver in the organization, but many procurement teams still struggle to get funding for tools and resources to improve their own process. Paul Brennan will bring his expertise from 25 years as an educator, practitioner, and champion of the public procurement professional to provide advice to procurement teams on advocating for the support they need to thrive— whether training resources, technology, or other key investments. Watch the webinar on-demand now.

Happy procurement month! Whether it’s taking in a webinar, hosting an open house, enjoying cake with colleagues, or one of these creative ideas, we hope you take the time to celebrate your impact.   

Anyone who has experienced the adrenaline rush of participating in an auction — whether in person or vicariously through popular shows like Storage Wars — knows that the rapid-fire competition and the promise of getting a good deal are hard to resist.

Reverse auctions provide that same thrill in public procurement with a twist — instead of participants increasing their bids over time to win a good/service, they try to outbid each other by decreasing their price incrementally to win the business of the procuring organization.

For a quick primer on reverse auctions in the public sector, see last week’s blog Demystifying Reverse Auctions in the Public Sector.

Reverse auctions can be a highly effective tool for public sector procurement teams to achieve best market value and save time on lengthy negotiations. However, they are not widely used thanks in part to some pervasive myths.

Here, we take a look at the truth behind three common misconceptions:

Myth: Reverse auctions are a form of bid shopping.

There’s no question that bid-shopping is an unacceptable practice in the world of public procurement. However, the two are not the same.

Bid-shopping occurs when the buyer seeks out a lower price from a vendor by privately revealing another vendor’s price (without that vendor’s knowledge or consent). In contrast, reverse auctions give all vendors access to the same information at the same time. For that reason, reverse auctions are a fair and transparent practice (The Procurement Office).

The benefits of this transparency extend to vendors, too. Vendors report that reverse auctions provide an even playing field and take the guesswork out of pricing that often occurs in a traditional bidding process.

Myth: Reverse auctions favour larger vendors.

There’s a lingering concern that reverse auctions shut out smaller players. In fact, the research disproves this: in a survey of reverse auction activity at four agencies, the United States Government Accountability Office found that 86% of auctions awarded (valued at more than $22 million) went to small business (Government Accountability Office).

Reverse auctions make it easier for small businesses to compete due to the low barrier to entry and greatly reduced time investment. And when you consider that eBay has been around since 1995, concerns about vendors’ technical ability to participate in an online auction process are receding.  

Clear and proactive communication with all vendors, large and small, is a necessary prerequisite to a successful auction. Teams can take the following steps to assuage fears about vendor participation:

• Clearly communicate how the process will work, from posting to award, and the logistics of participation;
• Choose a simple and easy-to-use reverse auction software platform;
• Consider holding a practice event to ensure vendors are comfortable with the software;
• Answer questions to minimize the unknowns; and
• Be available during the auction by direct phone and email, in order to address any questions as they come up (NASPO).

Myth: Reverse auctions are an unsustainable practice for cost-cutting.

Another pervasive misperception is that reverse auctions yield unsustainably low prices, resulting in a short-term gain that backfires in the long run. However, both private and public sector reverse auction activity shows significant time and cost savings over successive years.

Massive cost savings, such as this school board’s 64% savings on their hamburger patties contract, are certainly possible with reverse auctions in their first use, as you can expect a large margin to be cut off the purchase price. In subsequent uses, you cannot expect the same magnitude of decreases, or your vendors would soon be out of business. Nevertheless, if used judiciously, competitive bidding through reverse auctions ensures that buyers get the best possible price at that moment through real-time market pricing (Reverse Auction Research Centre).

Reverse auctions are a proven tactic for procurement in the long-term — not as a golden ticket, but as a complement to your overarching procurement strategy.

Ready to learn more about reverse auctions?

Join our upcoming webinar Demystifying Reverse Auctions in Higher Education Procurement on February 21 to learn more about the process and methodology of reverse auctions in the public sector, including:

• Strategies for integrating reverse auctions in your procurement process, from commodity bids to more complex RFPs;
• Tips for getting started with reverse auctions; and
• Real-life examples of successful reverse auction projects.

Real-time reverse auctions can be a significant source of savings — both in time and money — for public procurement teams. They’ve been recognized as a legitimate public tendering format in the US since 1997 and used in federal and state procurement since 1999.

However, twenty years later, reverse auctions continue to be underused in the public sector.

What are reverse auctions?

Reverse auctions (also referred to as eAuctions) are an online, real-time purchasing technique in which vendors present successively lowered bids during a scheduled period of time. While ordinary auctions see bidders competing to win a product or service, in reverse auctions, two or more vendors compete to win the procuring organization’s business.

The goal of reverse auctions is to obtain the best price by encouraging competition among vendors. They are conducted using automated reverse auction software.

Reverse auctions typically occur at the end of a thorough purchasing process. Their success relies on clear specifications and a good understanding of the market. Like any other purchasing technique, they are not a silver bullet! But used judiciously and strategically, they offer significant benefits to your procurement function.

Why run reverse auctions in public sector procurement?

• Cost savings. In the first use of reverse auctions, initial savings are typically around 20% (although savings of  64% and higher are not unheard of!) Whether or not you see significant savings every time, using a reverse auction ensures that you are achieving the best market price at a given time. 
• Market intelligence. The process gives buyers insight into where vendors stack up in the marketplace, as well as the strengths and weaknesses of certain vendors.
• Reducing procurement cycle times. Reverse auctions allow teams to compress the timelines of lengthy negotiations, and reduce the administrative burden on both buyers and vendors.
• Transparency and fairness. Reverse auctions provide all vendors the same information at the same time. For vendors, there is less guesswork on pricing. For organizations, there is a reduced opportunity for favouritism/bias, or the influence of a persuasive salesperson to impact the decision.
• Thorough documentation. All bids are recorded and cannot be manipulated, ensuring a thoroughly documented decision.

Getting started with reverse auctions

With these benefits in mind, many procurement professionals are beginning to explore the potential of reverse auctions in their procurement function. To help connect the dots between theory and practical application, join the upcoming webinar Demystifying Reverse Auctions in Higher Education Procurement, with subject matter expert Michael LaGrassa and Bonfire Client Success Lead Rachel Friesen.

Currently the assistant vice chancellor of administrative services at UMass Dartmouth, Michael has extensive hands-on experience with running reverse auctions for public sector procurement (a total of 25 in his career!) Meanwhile Rachel brings valuable technical insight from her experience in supporting dozens of procurement teams in their use of Bonfire for reverse auctions.   

In this webinar on February 21, Michael and Rachel will demystify the process and methodology of reverse auctions through real-life examples. You’ll leave with a plan of action to evaluate the merits of this procurement technique for your organization.

The purpose of a business is to work together to achieve a common goal — however, as businesses grow and diversify, fragmentation and departmental silos are all too common.

This breakdown is a major threat to the success of your procurement function, according to Spend Matters. With procurement bridging the gap between internal stakeholders and external vendors, there is a fundamental need for clear channels of communication and collaboration to ensure well-informed spending decisions.

Thus, anything that presents a barrier to collaboration between procurement and the rest of the organization is a threat to your business’s bottom line — and that includes the notoriously difficult-to-use legacy software applications that many teams are forced to work around.

User-friendly eProcurement software, on the other hand, offers a seamless means for stakeholders to participate in the sourcing process, whether as subject matter experts giving input on individual decisions, or management seeking a clear picture of where money is being spent and how it’s being managed.

Spend Matters notes that easy-to-use eProcurement software presents several advantages:

• Quicker cycle times.

The high training requirements of legacy enterprise software, or stakeholders’ outright refusal to use a legacy system, results in a longer procurement process full of manual steps. User-friendly eProcurement software, on the other hand, makes it possible for internal stakeholders to quickly access proposals and complete their evaluations on their own time. Without the paperwork, the process is quicker and business outcomes are achieved sooner.

• Better working relationships.

It’s not only operational benefits, however. Easy-to-use eProcurement software makes it easier for the rest of the organization to work with procurement, yielding more open lines of communication and better business relationships.

Spend Matters analyst JP Morris writes, “Procurement software that’s easier to use can provide a sense of teamwork that encourages stakeholders to get more involved. It also helps to break down the misconceptions that formal procurement processes are always difficult or time-consuming.”

Better engagement from end users brings many follow-on benefits, including a decrease in people going outside the procurement process and greater recognition for procurement’s strategic role in the organization.   

• More strategic contributions.

User-friendly software makes it easy for procurement to centralize and share information about their organization’s spending decisions with others in the organization. This visibility helps procurement managers to understand their spend and allocate resources strategically. Not only that, it also gives other members of the organizations insight into the ways in which procurement contributes to strategic goals.

“Providing an interface that is accessible, easy to use and insightful for vendors and buyers alike helps procurement team to step out of the shadows and be viewed as a strategic player in the organization, rather than a burden. Results matter and value can easily be reported on.”

If stakeholders across the company don’t have an easy way to interact with procurement, they simply won’t — to the detriment of  your individual spending decisions as well as your overall business operations. Thus, choosing an intuitive and user-friendly eProcurement software is about more than just convenience for the procurement team. It’s a key competitive advantage for the whole business.

Read the full Spend Matters article here.

Are you one of the 42 million weekly podcast listeners in the US? If so, we have some new suggestions to add to your playlist. If not — what are you waiting for?

Podcasts have exploded in popularity in recent years. They offer great stories, inspiration, education, and career and life advice. The digestible audio format is great for multitasking, so you can tune in on your commute, on the treadmill, in the waiting room, or while doing the dishes.

There’s truly a podcast for every topic, including procurement. Here are our three top podcast recommendations for public procurement professionals:

1. Public Procurement Leaders, presented by Public Spend Forum

This podcast provides a unique opportunity to be a fly on the wall in candid conversations about “successes and innovations in the public sector, and the people who are making them happen.”

Interviews range from procurement leaders at the federal, state, and local level, from the Chief Procurement Officer for the State of Alaska, to the Procurement Benchmarking program coordinator at the World Bank.

Try this episode: Public Procurement Leaders Podcast with Jack Pellegrino

This interview with Jack Pellegrino, Director of the Office of Purchasing and Contracting for the county of San Diego, discusses how his department adapted their procedures to help the County respond quickly to forest fire threats. He also covers who the ‘customer’ is in county procurement, and how the department collects and measures internal customer satisfaction as a measure of performance.

2. GovLove: A podcast about local government, presented by Engaging Local Government Leaders (ELGL)

Broadcasting from City Hall in Durham, North Carolina, this podcast will definitely lift your spirits and energize your efforts towards continuous improvement. Hear interviews with ambitious public servants who are working hard to improve government and overcoming many of the same challenges you face. You’ll also gain insight into the day-to-day experience of local government officials and pick up tidbits of career advice along the way.  

Try this episode: Episode #201 Data & Procurement in Boston, MA with Laura Melle & Stefanie Costa Leabo

In this interview, hear more about some of the procurement reform efforts Boston has undergone in partnership with the What Works Cities initiative. Guest speakers discuss how they are reframing the narrative around procurement from ‘the people who say “no”’ to capacity-builders helping other city departments help address their challenges.

3. Inside Public Procurement: Heroic Stories from the Frontlines by Bonfire

Procurement professionals like you are the lifeblood of public sector organizations, dedicated to supporting your agency and the constituents you serve. That’s why we created the Inside Public Procurement podcast here at Bonfire—a unique place where we share stories and discuss topics that matter to public procurement pros. Each episode brings you the latest trends, tips, and real stories from other procurement trailblazers who work tirelessly to bring positive impact to the agencies and communities they serve. 

Try this episode: Episode #1 Driving Efficiency (And Impact) with Cooperative Bids

This interview with Jennifer Frates, Chief Procurement Officer at Barnstable County, dives into the benefits of transparency and cooperative purchasing. We discuss the importance of transparency, the benefits of cooperative bids, and why the public sector should take better advantage of technology.

Listen to Inside Public Procurement on our website, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or just search “Inside Public Procurement” on your favorite podcast app.

Controlling rogue spending is the most ubiquitous challenge that procurement teams face when it comes to their indirect spend, according to ProcureCon Indirect East. At the heart of rogue spending is a disconnect between procurement and the rest of the company.

When stakeholders resist the procurement process and ‘go it alone,’ they introduce risk to your organization and leave cost savings on the table.

For that reason, getting stakeholders engaged with the process deserves to be a top priority for your procurement team.

What’s behind poor stakeholder engagement?

There are various reasons that stakeholders may want to avoid participating in the procurement process. Realistically, some of these opinions or misperceptions are out of your control. However, one common concern which is well within your sphere of influence is stakeholders’ resistance to a slow, cumbersome, or difficult process.  

RELATED: 5 Step Guide to Better User Adoption

According to a 2019 report by ProcureCon Indirect East, one of the underlying issues here is that many procurement teams do not have the technology support to help them run a modern and efficient process, or involve stakeholders easily in the process. Too many teams are trying to get things done with only the limited procurement functions of their ERP, or no technology at all.

Challenges of using an ERP for procurement

There’s no question that ERP systems are powerful. However, they’re also notoriously complex. Even for seasoned users, navigating the system can be a challenge. For occasional users — such as a subject matter expert participating in an evaluation — the challenge is magnified. Furthermore, ERP systems are not built with the workflows to support collaborative decision-making, providing only limited ways of involving stakeholders.

As a result, teams either struggle through the evaluation process in their ERP, or forgo technology all together in favour or paper, Excel, and email. This makes the procurement process time consuming and prone to error, which doesn’t help with procurement’s outdated image.

Modular eProcurement software offers two main advantages: it is specifically designed for the procurement process, which means it is easy-to-use and has the flexibility to support more collaborative evaluations.

How modular eProcurement software promotes user adoption

“Modular cloud-based solutions provide stakeholders with an easy-to-use and easy-to-understand system that allows them the ability to get involved only when they need to be,” says Andrew Wolfe, a seasoned CPO and now principal consultant with Wolfe Procurement. “A modular system that is easy to use means great visibility and accessibility for team members at all levels, whether an executive role or an administrative manager.”

Modular eProcurement software employ the same principles of user experience that underpin mainstream consumer apps (such as Google Maps or Netflix), so the systems feel familiar and work like stakeholders expect it to. Modular software platforms are also very agile, evolving through direct consultation with clients to fit their process and serve their needs better. As a result, little to no training is required for occasional users to participate, a crucial advantage over ERP system.

“In modular sourcing platforms, we’ve seen that stakeholder engagement has significantly increased,” says Wolfe. “In some cases, adoption is above 98% within that process.”

Easier collaboration for better outcomes

When stakeholders can participate easily in the procurement process, it enables fruitful collaboration to take place.
“Whether a company has multiple ERP systems, multiple operating entities, or they’re around the globe in terms of physical location—you need to get everybody putting all sourcing activities in that single spot,“ says Wolfe.

Conducting your procurement in one user-friendly platform means you can:

• Ensure all stakeholders have seen and thoroughly reviewed supplier proposals;
• Include more stakeholder perspectives without increasing your workload;
• Collect and tabulate scores automatically, reducing manual steps and risk of error; and
• Ensure consistency of data throughout the full lifecycle of the decision.

This result is timely, confident spending decisions that drive better outcomes  — not to mention better stakeholders relationships throughout the organization.

Read more about the risk of trusting your procurement to ERP systems in some of our previous articles.