The digital revolution is coming to procurement. While many businesses have embraced eProcurement systems and cloud-based tools, digital procurement demands more than that. Is your business ready? Learn three considerations before you move forward.

1. It’s time to upgrade your thinking.
NEXT
GENERATION
DIGITAL
PROCUREMENT

2. Next Generation
Digital Procurement
Will Change Everything
The digital
revolution is coming
to procurement.
Will you be ready?
3.0
Operate and
interact with
information
outside your own
data ecosystem
2.0
Recording why
decisions are
made in the
procurement
process
1.0
Recording data
and transactions
through use of
eProcurement
technologies

3. Procurement is expected to help stakeholders in the business
make the best purchasing decisions and deliver optimal value.
The procurement problem is not new…
But current policies and tools are geared toward driving a process rather than an experience
or outcome. For stakeholders, it’s an obstacle to be avoided rather than a useful tool.
SMOOTH
EXPERIENCE
SOLID
PROCESS OUTCOME
DRIVE
Robust process
end-to-end
Resistance free
purchasing
=+

4. True, companies have enthusiastically
embraced eProcurement systems and
even cloud-based procurement tools.
But these simply replicate the same
tedious procurement processes with
new software rather than upgrading
the purchasing experience.
…but the future creates
a new solution

5. Digital procurement enables
the “Amazon-like” experience
employees now want in the
workplace—but currently
aren’t getting.
Better Experiences
Better Control
Making procurement more
attractive to stakeholders
is critical to increasing the
procurement organization’s
influence over the half of the
company’s spend it doesn’t
control—and increasing the
effectiveness of how that
spend is managed.

6. By streamlining and simplifying how
people make and execute buying
decisions, digital procurement encourages
stakeholders to ‘embrace the process’
instead of circumventing it.
Users simply see valuable information presented
that they can act on. Compliance and controls
are embedded in the model instead of being
visible obstacles to be overcome.
Data-Driven Procurement
Truly digital
procurement is
defined not by a
rigorous process
but by putting
deep and rich data
at the fingertips
of stakeholders.

7. A true digital
procurement
organization automates
repeatable tasks to boost
efficiency and potentially
drive down costs.
OUTCOME
DRIVEN
It equips stakeholders
across the business with
real-time access to
insights and analytics
through Artificial
Intelligence (AI) and
easy-to-use online tools.
EMPOWERS
STAKEHOLDERS
It deploys new and
smarter ways to infuse
data models to enrich
day-to-day operations
and decision making.
INTELLIGENT
DECISIONS
And it transforms how
buyers interact with
suppliers and other
third parties by serving
as a platform for new
levels and types
of collaboration.
MEANINGFUL
INTERACTIONS
Benefits of Next Gen Procurement

8. Five Key Factors for Success
MORE
DATA
Data sourced
from outside,
as well as inside,
the organization
to inform not just
‘what’ has been
purchased, but ‘why’
it was purchased.
TECHNOLOGY
TOOLBOX
To make sense of
data, and provide
advanced intelligent
support, you need
to combine the
right technology—
especially AI, natural
language processing,
analytics and bots.
INTUITIVE USER
EXPERIENCE
Intuitive user
experiences
will encourage
stakeholders
to actually use
the online
procurement tools.
SKILLS &
TALENT
Generating true
value requires a
cross-functional
team of people
from Data Scientists
and AI experts,
category experts
and design
professionals.
POLICIES &
PROCEDURES
To ensure everyone
understands their
new responsibilities,
a review of policies
and procedures
is needed along
with an updated
operating model.

9. IT TAKES TIME
It typically takes three to five years to collect the relevant
data, develop the necessary systems and processes, and
build the underpinning analytics and AI. That’s why it’s
critical for companies to begin moving today.
IT TAKES MONEY
Building a digital procurement organization also requires
a big investment. Fortunately, digital procurement
capabilities are increasingly available as-a-service, which
could eliminate the upfront investment to build them,
and also dramatically accelerate the transformation.
IT TAKES VISION
Although the benefits of digital procurement can be
substantial, it’s a big departure from how procurement
has traditionally operated. That’s why companies should
to consider a partner to help them define what the future
procurement organization will look like for them
Three
Considerations
for Moving
Forward

10. The reality is, every industry today faces its own
individual challenges. And as part of their
response, companies should think hard about what
they need from their procurement organization.
That’s something Accenture has been focusing on as we work
with companies around the world to define, and prepare for
the next generation of procurement.
Find out more by visiting:
www.accenture.com/digitalprocurement
The Next Steps