
Procurement BPO: Be careful before sharing your proverbial corporate bedroom with another party
Procurement BPO engagements aren’t about dating. They’re about getting married, something we actually think many people don’t realize. Remember this one point, and your chances of success with procurement BPO will increase on a log scale. Never mistake a BPO relationship for advisory or software. You can scrap a consultant’s deck and trash a software […]

And Now: The Absolute Youngest Enterprise Irregular
Baby @monkchips did not reign long: after a month and a half, baby @jcorsello took over as the Youngest EI. And now she is not. The youngest, that is. We’re thrilled to welcome the Youngest EI, Simon Louis Busch, born today, 7 pounds, 7 ounces and 20 inches. Congratulations, Lisa and Jason!

Back of the Napkin — A New Series and an Open Invitation
I’d like to invite all Spend Matters readers to participate in a new series we’ll post every Friday on Spend Matters titled “Back of the Napkin”. The goal is to bring a bit of visual substance, learning and, cough, humor to the world we inhabit. Each week, we’ll post a new sketch or chart — […]

Filling a Research Void: Spend Matters Compass (Part 1)
I can’t tell you how often someone corners me and tells me how much
they enjoy reading Spend Matters, but wished that sometimes
we’d dig a bit deeper into the subjects we cover. This
feedback comes most frequently after I give a presentation…
Friday Rant: Doubling Down on Spend Matters (Part 1)
There comes a time in the evolution of any idea — or business —
where rapid introspection is preferable to any long, drawn-out
goal-setting or visioning development process. Over the course of 24
hours in early November, I had one of these…

Five Things the Gartner/AMR Deal Suggests for the Future of Industry Analyst Research
As I sat down to write about the Gartner/AMR deal this morning, I realized that I could probably fill a book with my thoughts on what the deal bodes for the future of research, publishing and expert consulting models in the technology sector. But rat…

Gartner to Acquire AMR Research: Supply Chain and Procurement Analyst Game Over?
Earlier this morning, Gartner announced that it was acquiring AMR Research. For those who are not familiar with AMR, the firm, for the longest time, has been the most influential analyst outfit focused on supply chain and procurement. While it has te…