Procurement services are considered a key component in achieving overall corporate strategies. They include not just consulting, but business process outsourcing, knowledge process outsourcing, supplier management, quality and auditing services, content/information services, network services, intelligence services, training/certification services and more. As companies increasingly focus on managing issues related to global growth, volatility and risk, procurement organizations are adapting and evolving.

Procurement practitioners are getting smarter and more sophisticated in how they buy procurement services; however, they do face numerous challenges that prevent them from unlocking more value from the market and making their lives easier. Procurement organizations are challenged with managing an increasingly global supply base, optimizing complex processes and making sense of data scattered across disparate systems.

IBM (News - Alert) Emptoris Strategic Supply Management helps companies meet these challenges with a suite of solutions that connect disparate systems and teams to provide complete visibility and control over spend, contracts, service providers and supplier intelligence and processes. From finance and operations to procurement and legal and sales and HR, IBM offers solutions that address companies’ most pressing challenges and maximize operational and financial performance.

For procurement, IBM helps identify sustainable savings opportunities with its Spend Analysis solution, target complex spend categories with its Sourcing solution, actively manage the full supplier lifecycle with its Supplier Lifecycle Management Solution and negotiate stronger contracts and drive contract compliance with its Contact Management solution.

On Thursday, March 28, IBM will present a webinar, “Procurement Challenge – You’ve Cut Costs, What’s Next?” Jason Busch of Spend Matters and Terrence Curley, IBM’s procurement product director, will discuss how leading companies are transforming their procurement functions and how procurement transformations can succeed in the future.

Attendees can learn about some of the pragmatic practices in procurement today, including sourcing/category management, savings and compliance, expanding charter, talent, procurement/finance collaboration and structure and knowledge.

Register for the webinar here!