Solving For Advantages Of Procurement With Managed Services

ADVANTAGES OF PROCUREMENT

Every successful enterprise knows the art of procuring products and services in order to sustain and grow its operations. Considerable effort is expended in sourcing, evaluating, and eventually establishing contracts with suppliers. To truly realize the associated strategies and benefits, managers must develop skilled knowledge of the relationship between their firm?s procurement decisions and its overall mission, and that of obtaining better rate.

Managed services offer potential advantages for businesses that are seeking to maximize their expenditures. In brief, the practice involves having an outside service provider assume responsibility for the management, delivery, and production of resources, which may include technology, personnel, services, and materials. reliable managed services provider will be able to assess an organizations needs and goals, and advise on the most cost-effective solutions, as well as customized solutions to negotiate and optimize better and more favorable contract terms.

As C-Suite executive, it is important to recognize that working with provider of managed services can and will provide vast array of potential benefits to your organization, especially those in the financial sector. To that end, here is step-by-step guide detailing the advantages your enterprise can reap when outsourcing its procurement requirements.

Step 1: Identify Areas of Tremendous Potential Value

The first step towards successful procurement oriented services is to become aware of the areas where there is potential for value generation. This could be anything from an overall reduction in costs, improved quality, faster delivery of services, personalized products, and more. In order for an managed services plan to be effective and beneficial for an organization, these areas must be identified and tracked closely.

Step 2: Compile and Determine Requirements

With the areas of potential value identified, the next important step is to create list of the actual requirements that need to be addressed. This includes things such as technology, personnel, services, materials, and more, and the exact scale of requirements can be determined with the help of managed services provider.

Step 3: Research and Consider Promising Managed Services Provider

Now that the enterprise?s requirements are determined, it is time to begin researching different managed services providers. It is important to remember that not all providers of managed services are created equal, so it is important to consider multiple sources and do exhaustive research on different firms in order to ensure that the organization finds the service provider that best fits their procurement needs while also delivering on their strategic vision.

Step 4: Research Vendor Base

When searching for the right managed services provider, it is important to look beyond just the services they provide and to consider their wider vendor base and the types of cost discounts and contract terms they may bring to the table. This step of the process should include both direct and indirect spend analysis, and should take into account the value from both supplier?s financial stability and commitment to the agreed-upon service-level agreement.

Step 5: Negotiation

Once the appropriate managed services provider has been identified and selected, the final step is to begin negotiating and optimizing the contract terms with vendors. Here, it is essential for the organization to make sure that the terms of the agreement align with their strategic goals and the cost reductions identified in the research phase. Working with trusted managed services provider will make this process significantly more effective, since they will be able to identify potential discrepancies, as well as offer insights and advice on the best route to take in order to ensure the organization gets the best price while still meeting its business objectives.

Conclusion

The advantages of procurement are numerous, and the strategic implications of sourcing, negotiating, and making the right decisions should not be overlooked. Working with managed services provider can make the process easier, quicker, and more successful, and can help to ensure that any potential value generated is optimized and utilized in the right ways. Taking the time to research, compare, and negotiate different vendors for the right services and terms of agreement is an essential step in realizing the full benefits.