This blog will focus on procurement and strategic sourcing related topics as it relates to both the sourcing professional, as well as the training organizations.

As we move into a more complex world, we are ever so conscious of days slipping away on the calendar in order to meet our ever compressed project timelines.  As such, it’s easy to fall into the trap of feeling that we don’t have enough time to seek out the advice and guidance of subject matter experts in order to accomplish the task at hand. In this instance, I am referring to the procurement department.

One such example is the life cycle for an organization to source and contract with a third party training organization to develop a training program for a client company. If the procurement department is not initially engaged, this can be a risky proposition for both the training organization and the client company despite the best of intentions.

Procurement, as a service support organization, is established in order to assist in the sourcing, selection and negotiations of services from third party companies that provide for the greatest “value” for the purchasing companies. Today’s procurement professional is a more sophisticated individual that possesses a multitude of skills such as negotiations, contract drafting, commodity management and financial acumen. As such, it behooves the internal stakeholder groups to seek out these procurement professionals at the earliest opportunity of a project.

Some of the key considerations for both seller and buyer are:

For the buying organization:

• The procurement professional can provide guidance as to the policies and procedures of that organization, especially in regulated environments such as healthcare, life sciences, process industries, energy and utilities.
• Guidance for agreements on “who’s paper to use” for a contract.
• Company wide initiatives that the internal stakeholder may not be familiar with.
• Strategic sourcing initiatives that the end user may not be familiar with such as a preferred supplier with pre-negotiated fee discounts.
• Guidance in sourcing tools such as request for information and proposals.
• Establishment of service level agreements.

For the training company:

• A chance to understand the buying company’s acquisition policies.
• A chance to understand and navigate the buying company’s culture.
• A review of the terms and conditions for any training engagements, especially for that negotiation flashpoint – intellectual property ownership.
• A resource to utilize for responding to any buying company sourcing events such as request for information and proposals.
• An informational resource for long-term company sourcing strategies.

Collaboration is truly the catchword that applies. Collaborative efforts among the procurement professional and the internal company training department, along with the training companies, will achieve the desired results that all parties seek.

My next blog topic will focus on service level agreements- how do you create an effective service level agreement, when should you update it and how do you track it?