In the previous blog we discussed the factors that are demanding a re-look at the organizations’ sourcing plan. In this blog we will talk about how sourcing projects can be managed better.

Large scale sourcing projects are complex and cannot be managed manually. Leveraging technology will help sourcing managers run projects with increased effectiveness and achieve quality results.

Organizations with large scale sourcing require tools that can provide a holistic view into the myriad of sourcing projects running throughout the organization and, are accessible by different sourcing project managers and other top level executives.

So what to expect from sourcing project management?

• Flexibility – as mentioned earlier, organizations are operating in a volatile business environment. The tool should be flexible to support changing business requirements.
• Scalability – it should not be limited by the no. of projects the tool can support. Large organizations have multiple projects running simultaneously and the tool should be able to support this.
• Higher adoption rate – the tool should have user friendly interface similar to retail commerce websites like amazon.com. Thus resulting in higher adoption rate.
• Integration with other systems – it should be easily integrated with ERP systems or any other procurement tools used by the organization.
• Better visibility to top executives – what would interest a CPO is getting information of all the sourcing projects, their status on a single page with graphical representation.

Using an integrated sourcing project management tool presents the sourcing execs with host of benefits like better visibility into the project status with bottlenecks highlighted, better compliance by way of assigning stakeholders for various tasks within the project, defining timeline for various tasks and setting overall savings target for the project, structured process, and improved overall efficiency.