Supplier Management 101 (Part 3):
Defining Your Solution Approach

Maximize supplier management by defining your solution approach first.

As Part 1 and Part 2 of this three-part Spend Matters series examined, supplier management needs (supplier lifecycle management) is a multi-layered, multi-part process loop that demands deep capabilities at each stage, and a solution approach.

In Part 3, Pierre Mitchell and Michael Lamoureux show you how to map your supplier management needs – and desired outcomes – to the technology solutions available. Right now, there are many options out there promising all kinds of benefits—solutions, suites and platforms.

Supplier management often is called SLM because of its lifecycle focus, which spans initial analysis (analysis and opportunity identification), planning (sourcing), negotiation (contract management) and execution (performance). It closes the process loop by leading back to the analysis phase of the strategic sourcing cycle as a result of future opportunity identification.

Knowing exactly what your requirements are, and better understanding what success looks like, will help you define and make the best strategic choices.

Topics include:

• Desired supplier relationships drive solution needs
• How upstream and downstream requirements influence SLM
• Making the end-to-end vision a reality
• Where sourcing, CLM and P2P fit in

Download this 3-part research series to learn the background, solutions approach and requirements framework for optimizing your supplier management.

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