Procurement is not an order but a record
Most organisations know what they spend on IT and not what on. Orders run through three departments, contracts renew silently, and last week’s lead time only becomes a problem on the day somebody starts. This page is about that work: ordering, monitoring and recording, so it is not a search when somebody asks.
Four things that leave your hands
None of the four is exciting. Together they cost more time than anyone thinks.
- One ordering route instead of threeRequests arrive in one place, are checked against what has already been agreed and go out as one order. That is the step that makes duplicate orders and rush charges disappear, because those two nearly always come from two people who do not know the other is ordering the same thing.
- Lead times that are monitoredAn order is not done once it is placed. We track what was promised and report a shift the moment the manufacturer passes it on, not on the day the delivery should have been standing there.
- Contracts with an end date you knowLicences, maintenance and subscriptions get a date and an owner. Silent renewal is no disaster as long as you see it coming; the problem is the renewal you discover on the invoice.
- A record of what was boughtWhat was ordered, where it sits and on what terms. That is the same list you need for an insurer, for an audit and on the day something has to be replaced.
What vendor management actually delivers
Not a lower unit price. That is the line with the least to gain and the most attention.
Fewer parties pointing at each other
In a fault between two suppliers, the time goes not to the solution but to the question of who owes it. One party in between who knows the agreements costs less than the hours that go into that.
Agreements you can lay side by side
Different suppliers, different response times, different moments the clock starts. Only when they sit in one overview can you see where the cover has a gap, and that gap is almost always where nobody expects it.
Price at the right moment
The negotiation that pays off is the renewal and not the first order. Whoever knows when a contract ends and what the actual consumption was stands differently from whoever gets a call three weeks in advance.
What we do not do in this
Procurement touches work that is another trade. That belongs here, and not at the first shipment.
- We are not a freight forwarderGoods crossing a border need a declaration, a tariff and sometimes a permit. We arrange the order and the delivery, and work with the party that handles the customs side; we do not make that declaration ourselves.
- We do not sign on your behalfContracts stay in your name. We prepare, compare and advise, and the signature stays where it belongs.
- We are not your only supplierWhere you have an existing arrangement that works, it stays. The aim is oversight and not that everything runs through us; that last one is our interest and not yours.
What goes with this
Procurement hangs on what is already installed and on what leaves.
Questions we get about this
The ones that come up most, answered briefly.
Do you take over our existing suppliers?
Only where that gains something. An arrangement that works stays; what we do is put it in the same overview as the rest, so the end dates and response times line up. Running everything through us is our interest and not yours.
Do the contracts stay in our name?
Yes. We prepare, compare and advise, and the signature stays with you. That is also practical: you can stop at any moment without the licences moving house.
Do you handle import when we order outside the EU?
The order and the delivery yes, the customs declaration no. For that we work with a forwarder, and who files that declaration is agreed in advance rather than at the first shipment.
Find out what is actually running
Send an overview of your current contracts and suppliers. You get back where cover overlaps, where there is a gap and which end date comes first.
Practical IT knowledge in your inbox
New guides on management, security and the workplace, written by the people doing the work. No sales talk, and you can unsubscribe in one click.