Onventis interview with James Meads, Digital Procurement Advisor & Podcaster

Join us on October 16th at Xchange 2024 where James Meads will share his expert insights on navigating the evolving procurement technology landscape. In this interview, James discusses the most pressing trends in the procurement software market, the transformation of team roles, and processes within the field. His analysis will offer valuable perspectives on how procurement can align more closely with business objectives and leverage new technologies for greater efficiency.

What are trends to watch in the procurement software market?

I see three major trends. Firstly, I expect SAP and Coupa to consolidate their grip on the enterprise market, thanks to their marketplaces (app stores). It makes switching to a fully best-of-breed approach less attractive for large corporates. Their competitors will then be pushed into the mid-market, where there is already healthy competition with established, well-respected, and leaner solutions such as Onventis. So, I suspect there will be some consolidation here. Secondly, I predict growth in “copycat” local solutions in some key emerging markets, which are tailored to local legislative requirements in places like Brazil, Mexico, Indonesia, and Saudi / UAE. Finally, I think there will be a boom in “make vs. buy” again, with the emergence of generic No Code tools such as Airtable and ClickUp, alongside Generative AI applications. Especially for the SME market and high-growth tech start-ups, where decision-making is faster and the mindset is less risk-averse.

What is the biggest change you see in how procurement teams are going to work in the next two years?

Almost certainly, I expect that the most successful teams will move away from category management to a more business-partnering approach. Procurement must become better at internal comms and aligning their goals with the wider business. There will still be category experts, but the org structure will be much less siloed in the future. I expect that operational procurement roles will gradually disappear because they will be automated. We will see data analysts and data scientists in procurement teams, and I also predict a return of the admin “superhero” role. You shouldn’t be paying a Category Manager’s salary to have them spend one-third of their time on firefighting and day-to-day administration. There’s a reason why sales teams still have them!

Can you give us a one sentence overview of your presentation at the Xchange 2024?

We’ll take a look at how you can use a mix of technology, geo-arbitrage, and a realignment of procurement roles to achieve more with less, ensuring that you’ll have a lean, top-performing procurement team in 2030!