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To say that the supplier network business model itself has crossed the chasm would be an understatement. For companies like Ariba/SAP, network revenue has become one of the very core components of overall growth — and the network model itself has become a key value proposition to customers, including supplier enablement, transactional connectivity and supply chain risk management. We will be talking about networks and related enabling technologies, including cloud, platform as a service (PaaS) and blockchain, with ISM at theGlobal Procurement Technology Summittaking place on March 14–16 in Baltimore.

Within procurement technology, e-invoicing is a simple market to understand on the surface and perhaps the most vexing to analyze as you peel the solution onion — its underpinnings are perhaps more influenced by new and emerging technology than any other related solution area. We encourage Spend Matters customers interested in learning more about what’s changing with e-invoicing and related areas to join us for the ISM and Spend MattersGlobal Procurement Technology Summiton March 14–16 in Baltimore.

The e-procurement market, one of the original technology segments to center on automating and improving procurement, is starting to go through a number of fundamental shifts. These changes are far more dramatic than the initial “cloud transformation” that began when Ariba and Coupa began to migrate standard deployment models away from the CD world. (It should be noted both of these providers, especially Coupa, have evolved dramatically since this initial shift as well.) We recently started to cover some of these new shifts in the first installment of a Spend Matters PRO research series:E-Procurement Market Outlook 2016-2018: 10 Technology and ‘Mega’ Trends.

Purchased business services have been around since businesses have existed. Yet the full extent of services spend in enterprises still seems to elude most procurement organizations trying to exert meaningful commercial influence on such spending. Over a decade ago, the “services procurement problem” began to come to light, but the focus was understandably often focused on contingent labor spending, and in particular, on temporary staffing services.

Spend Matters welcomes this guest article by Somdipto Ghosh of Zycus.

Inside every procurement department, this paradox is apparent: While the organization realizes the need to embrace new technologies to transform its practices through automation, the fear of uncertainty and the natural reluctance to change causes transformations to become time-consuming, if not a failure. While there is no secret elixir of success, following Kotter’s 8-step change process will ensure that there is a method to all the madness.

For those who love delving into such topics as total cost savings, inventory reduction and transactional efficiency in procurement and supply chain, there’s no more fluffy a topic than change management. But when the right change management programs sit alongside either targeted initiatives or broader transformation programs, the potential overall impact of efforts can be magnified considerably – and most importantly, sustained over time. In the coming days on Spend Matters, we’ll share an interview series with one of my personal favorite people in the sector, Barb Ardell, vice president and influencing change practice leader at Paladin Associates.