We have another ProcureCon event running this week – this time in Orlando, FL. For anyone not traveling to the Sunshine State, there are a full DOZEN webinars being held, half of which are on Thursday. I’ve recommended four below and provided my reasoning. Click on the title of each event below to view the full description in our events calendar and to connect to their registration pages.
An Eloquent Path to Supply Chain Resilience (SIG, Zycus)
February 24, 11am EST
My initial reason for being interested in this event is that I read it as Zycus’ take on supply chain risk, something I don’t usually associate their solution with. As it turns out, this event will focus more on supplier management – a topic we don’t hear as much about as we used to. While most of procurement's “SM” efforts have evolved into “SRM” (heavy emphasis on the R for relationships), this webinar's look into supplier management focuses on collaboration with internal stakeholders to establish metrics, minimize risk, and collect performance feedback. Note: this event includes a live demo of Zycus’ supplier management solution.
Savings-as-a-Service - Maximizing Efficiency and Value (SIG, Coupa)
February 25, 11am EST
In a twist on the –as-a-Service movement, Coupa outlines a program for Savings-as-a-Service, perhaps more accurately described as Service-with-a-Smile. In this webinar they’ll take a broad look at what procurement needs to accomplish in order to be successful in our spend management efforts. Starting with Coupa's philosophy around adoption, spend visibility, and KPIs, they will hit an ambitious list of additional topics including compliance, supplier information management, tail spend, expense management, ERP integration, and the benefits of their supplier network. Note: this event includes a live demo of Coupa’s solution.
The Virtual Workforce - How RPA Liberates People from Robotic Work (HfS Research)
February 25, 11am EST
The interesting thing about the –as-a-Service economy is that not all services will ultimately be delivered by humans. Robotic Process Automation (RPA), or the use of software ‘robots’ written specifically to automate tactical, rules-based processes, will play a key part in increasing service efficiency while reducing their cost. HfS Research has been discussing RPA for a while now, and in this webinar they will talk about how ‘intelligent automation’ provides as much of a positive opportunity to free teams up from tactical work as it creates outsourcing-type risk to employees.
Insights on Supply Chain Talent (Supply Chain Insights)
February 25, 1pm EST
This Supply Chain Insights panel webinar addresses one of my favorite topics in talent – the ‘middle children.’ Most generational talent conversations center around either the rise of Millennials or the departure of Baby Boomers. But there are plenty of procurement professionals born between those two generations, and they will be in leadership positions long before Millennials are ready to take charge. If Millennials are still building their skills, and Baby Boomers are the focus of knowledge transfer, the generation between should be the primary recipients of talent retention and skills development efforts.