Four in five companies "missing the boat" when it comes to digital procurement

A new report has found that more than four in five (83%) companies are “missing the boat” when it comes to digital procurement.

The research, conducted by source-to-pay provider Jaggaer, uncovered a worrying lack of progress when it comes to private businesses preparing and implementing strategies for digital procurement.

Some 83% of companies were found not to be taking full advantage of digital procurement’s potential and remain wary of using the newest cutting-edge technologies, such as blockchain, Robotic Process Automation (RPA), and digital assistants/chatbots.

The study also recognised that investing in digital procurement is a priority. The majority of the survey responses listed future-oriented KPIs and big data analytics as top investment priorities, while new, less mature technology, such as blockchain (36%), RPA (48%) and digital assistants/chatbots (52%) were listed as lower priority areas.

Jaggaer said the results show that companies are taking a pragmatic approach to implementing new technology, and are waiting to see how “first movers” fare in order to minimise their own risk.

Overall, companies recognised that digitalisation in procurement has the potential to improve performance.

Respondents listed SRM, eProcurement, and eSourcing software solutions as having the greatest potential for increasing efficiency.

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Big Data analysis (53%), SRM, eProcurement and eSourcing (46%), and future-oriented KPI analyses (40%) were all listed as having the greatest potential for increasing effectiveness in procurement and increasing the value that procurement adds to the entire organisation.

“New technology is going to completely revolutionise the daily routine in procurement,” said Robert Bonavito, CEO of Jaggaer.

“By implementing modern procurement software, more than half of all procurement organisations have already taken the first big step towards digital end-to-end processes, automation, data consolidation, and using KPIs for strategic decisions.

“The results of the survey show that many companies are already better-equipped for digitalization than they may realise.

“The next step is to link data more effectively and use it more intelligently. This will open up many new opportunities for procurement that will give organizations a strategic advantage.”