Analytics

Where Data and Operations Intersect to Meet COVID-19 Challenges

Posted: 07/28/2020 - 04:20
AI is instrumental when analyzing multiple, complex data assets to identify insights that are critical to predicting outcomes.

There is no shortage of analysis and predictions today regarding COVID-19 and our future.  While experts of all walks of life weigh in via global news channels, healthcare organizations are still left addressing the here and now as well as surges that could happen tomorrow, next week or in a few months. For those supporting the front lines securing necessary supplies and resources, it is paramount to be able to deliver what is urgently needed.

10 Ways to Find Savings Through Analytics

Posted: 07/09/2019 - 06:48
Businesses need faster and more comprehensive spend management solutions, without the need for additional subject matter experts. To this end, our clients have benefited from improvements in insight and service delivery using 4C’s analytics platform 4Spend. Here are ten ways in which new savings can be found using analytics. 
 
1.) Categorisation and Benchmarking 
 

A Vision for Procurements Future, with Conor Quarry, and Komal Patel

Posted: 10/04/2018 - 05:50
Dawn Tiura: Folks, I'm excited to introduce you to Conor Quarry. Conor is nominated as a Rising Star and he's from IBM, and Conor, I want to welcome you to the podcast.
 
Conor Quarry: Well, I'm happy to be here.
 
Dawn Tiura: You have just the most amazing recommendation that was sent in which is why you are a finalist in the Rising Star nomination category. Can you tell me a little bit about your inspiration? What inspires you every day, and what makes you do such an amazing job for IBM?
 

Artificial Intelligence: What’s Now and Next in IoT-Driven Supply Chain Innovation

Posted: 03/24/2018 - 02:32

Like most people, coffee is one of the most important rituals in my morning routine. There’s something about the aroma and taste that kick-starts my ability to have a great day. So, imagine my surprise when I found out that a favorite coffee shop was closed before I had to jump on an early-morning flight home. The employees were in the shop, but the gate locked out coffee aficionados, like me, who really needed that jolt of caffeine.

Embrace ambiguity: building a case for business value

Posted: 06/28/2016 - 20:03

Sourcing executives today are all about innovation and adding business value: buying smarter to drive business benefits such as increased customer satisfaction, reduced error rates and insights into product design. In other words, procurement operational strategy aspires to demonstrate alignment with factors driving the success of the business, which is more than just cost takeout.

Who could argue with that?

Building a sales force multiplier

Posted: 05/18/2016 - 01:58

Likely all of us have heard the expression (or something close to it), “If I was starting this company all over now, I would do it much differently.” Often such break-away thinking yields new companies, or in some cases, new divisions or subsidiaries of companies. To achieve true transformation, one must employ “trans-process” thinking. I’m not sure if anyone has coined the term yet, but if they did my credit is hereby given. If not, I will claim it now.

The digital transformation journey

Posted: 05/06/2016 - 19:59

Business leaders and technology executives are deluged by the rhetoric about disruptive digital technologies coming of age, companies and whole industries going digital.

Maturing and new technology tools, combined with rapidly changing technology usage patterns of businesses and consumers, are forcing a rethink, even a re-imagination of what companies can do. Obviously there are leaders and there are followers, with every success story probably preceded by unsung failures.

Changing paradigms of global engineering outsourcing

Posted: 04/05/2016 - 06:30

Today companies are being exposed to a changing business landscape due to macro-economic factors, greater-than-ever globalisation, and rapid advancements in technology.

The global economy is recovering but still sluggish. Companies have been engaging in significant cost savings and restructuring initiatives over the past several years to meet shareholder expectations. But business leaders are now beginning to realise that they cannot cut their way to growth. So companies now have a greater appetite to invest in developing new products, services and market reach.

A new way to serve and contract

Posted: 04/01/2016 - 19:55

The world of sourced services is developing rapidly. Gone are the long-term, rigid forms based on lease funding and assumptions of slothful corporate evolution. The cloud, rapid innovation and globalisation have put paid to that. So what emerging trends of the sourcing market are noteworthy for commissioning directors?

Robots 

The DIY desire: addressing customer self-service

Posted: 01/14/2016 - 23:08

Sparked by the internet and accelerated by the spread of smart devices, consumers are more and more motivated to gather information online themselves when solving problems with a product or service. This has led to a new situation for customer contact centres – where businesses used to meter information to the public through dedicated agents, now the public at large is holding the cards.

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