Björn-Uwe Mercker

As CFOs face pressure to balance many priorities and roles, procurement analytics have become essential to drive organizational performance. It is universally acknowledged that the CFO’s role means balancing a growing list of priorities, mandates, and reporting, and the job is not getting any easier. CFOs play a range of critical roles in their organizations, including (but not limited to) crisis manager, functional leader, thought partner to the CEO, and, not to mention, chief financial officer.

Managing supply chains can be tough for many organizations, whether because of too much organizational complexity, too little spending transparency, or too heavy a reliance on gut instinct—usually resulting from siloed data and manual processes. COVID-19 exacerbated these challenges, even as it made an even stronger case for the analytics-driven future that companies have sought to achieve for years.

The vital role played by procurement functions has come to the fore in recent weeks through the highly visible need to quickly source personal protective equipment (PPE) and other critical supplies. What’s been less visible is procurement’s role in activities from ramping up (and down) complicated global supply chains, to determining how to help suppliers in financial stress and responding to urgent needs to review and prioritize spending.