2022 is already shaping up to further depend on procurement's expertise in transforming sustainable supply chains. We have a host of resources, insights and events to prepare you for procurement's transformation!

Procurement Technology Summit

Prepare yourself and your team for the future of business at the SIG Procurement Technology Summit April 4-6, 2022! Are you registered?

Get ready for amazing keynote sessions, a chance to engage and learn from the brightest industry experts, speed networking, and experience live solution deep-dives from best-in-class providers.

Future of Sourcing Awards

Do you hear that? That's the sound of the SIG Future of Sourcing Awards making a return! The FOS awards are held to honor and celebrate individuals and organizations that show innovation, leadership and transformation in critical areas to the sourcing industry. The next Awards will take place in Rancho Mirage, California, on October 19, 2022, the capstone evening at the SIG Global Executive Summit. Attendees will enjoy dinner, networking, entertainment and an awards ceremony delivered in the most innovative ways imaginable. This event will bring together some of the brightest minds, the best insights and the most relevant topics to create a truly remarkable experience.

SIG and Globality, the world’s only AI-powered Marketplace and Platform for B2B services, partnered to produce a study looking into why B2B services remains one of the greatest untapped opportunities to drive business value

Almost 70% of Globality and SIG survey respondents indicate that they are either proceeding as planned or are now accelerating their digitization initiatives.

However, bridging the gap between intent, action, and a positive outcome has never been an easy endeavor. In fact, and as pointed out in her latest book, Trade wars, pandemics, and chaos: How digital procurement enables business success in a disordered world, Dr. Elouise Epstein talks about how people are coming clean about the challenges with their existing or historical tech. In other words, organizations need more than just a desire to digitally transform the enterprise if they hope to avoid the same pitfalls that have undermined initiatives in the past.

The purpose of this article is to leverage the insights gained from the Globality and SIG survey to create a clear and more certain path to digital transformation success.

Clear Benefits

According to most survey respondents, there are several priorities when it comes to digitization in critical areas. These top priority areas include the rapid identification, selection, and engagement of suppliers, the ability to react with speed to market dynamics, and the capability to drive revenue through innovation.

While varying degrees of organizational maturity regarding procurement processes may result in some differences in the priority of identified objectives, there is generally no argument that the benefits of a progressive digital strategy are clear.

I can't believe it's the end of the year again, and what a year it has been. 2021 presented many new challenges. We had to navigate carefully and, at times, change direction. However, when the SIG community told us what they needed, we forged ahead and rolled out some amazing virtual and in-person events to SIG members to help them navigate the disruptions.

As we commemorate SIG’s 30th Anniversary Celebration, we want to take a moment to thank our members for making SIG a fun, vibrant community of practitioners, critical thinkers, problem solvers, thought leaders, executives, and industry leaders. Our members make the magic come alive. SIG’s achievements over the past 30 years are the results of the combined contributions from every individual member, cheers to future successes and past glories!

Here's a special message from our President and CEO, Dawn Tiura, about SIG's past, present and future. 

Thanks to the vast input of SIG's member network, here are the bright spots and successes we collectively achieved this year.

As we charge forward into 2022,  procurement’s value proposition to the organization continues to grow. We have a host of resources, insights and events to help you deliver on procurement's new future. 

November SIGnature Events

After an amazing Global Executive Summit, the SIG team is hard at work to bring you our next in-person event of the year, our SIGnature Events. SIGnature Events are powerful one-day meetings in which buy-side practitioners benchmark with other organizations and network with colleagues facing similar issues. Delegates will learn and network throughout the day, then wind down the afternoon with a happy hour, casual one-on-one discussions creating long-term collegial relationships. 

Northeastern Regional SIGnature Event

Western Regional SIGnature Event

Eastern Regional SIGnature Event

Power Hour Webinars

Building Your Roadmap for Total Talent Management

Today, organizations need a scalable solution that enables global enterprise-wide workforce planning, a future-proof supply chain, improved compliance, better supplier management, an innovative way to engage talent, and data-driven decision-making in a way that hasn’t been possible before. 

Recently, SIG had the pleasure of hosting a panel of Everest Group experts for the July CPO & Executive Virtual Series. The panel included Vice President, Sourcing and Vendor Management, Amy Fong, Chief Research Officer, Michel Janssen, Everest Group Partner, Jimit Arora and Pricing Assurance Partner, Rahul Gehani. It was a very engaging discussion that lasted nearly two hours with tons of excellent takeaways. Let’s get into it!

Trends of the 2020 & 2021 Service Provider Wages

The focus of the meeting was BPO and IT services and the industry trends related to the supply market and successful buy-side organizations. Jimit Arora kicked the roundtable off with the findings from 2020 and early 2021 regarding the rates of IT and BPO services. One of the major points of emphasis was the renegotiating of rates after the dust settled from 2020.

Many of the suppliers realized that the previous rate discounts that were granted during the work-from-home scramble weren’t sustainable. As Jimit stated from Everest Group’s findings, “we are seeing situations where suppliers are going back to their clients saying, Hey, we need to re-up these rates, right?”

A major reason for this change is due to the inflation of the labor market. The question many companies are asking themselves is “how do you get your resources for what you need to accomplish at the correct pay rate, while still making it feasible to where people want to work versus just going on unemployment”. This issue is causing a constraint in general on the market and the talent pool that's available right now. And this remains true whether you view this from a United States perspective or an offshore international perspective.