The Case For Procurement Outsourcing
Every year, outsourcing is woven more tightly into the fabric of business. At last count, more than 40 percent of Fortune 500 companies now outsource all or part of a business function or process. And according to a leading research firm, nearly all of North America's major companies will outsource at least some of their IT functions by 2005. You could almost say that promoting IT outsourcing is like "preaching to the converted."
But other business functions – procurement, for example – have not yet achieved such broad outsourcing acceptance. Nevertheless, the benefits associated with outsourcing portions of a company's procurement process are vast, potentially greater than outsourcing IT. This article discusses the big-picture advantages of procurement outsourcing. It also examines the operational characteristics of an outsourced procurement environment and offers guide-lines for deciding if procurement outsourcing is right for your organization.