Convergence of Procurement Outsourcing and FAO
By Lisa Ross
CEO, FAO Research

Driven initially by financial considerations to keep supply chain costs down, CFOs and others with P&L responsibility are becoming increasingly involved in the decision to consider the procurement business process as a candidate for outsourcing. FAO Research, Inc. has witnessed a convergence between outsourced procurement and finance and accounting (F&A) business processes with source-to-pay (or procure-to-pay) and spend management driving the convergence. More

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In simple terms, defined as it relates to small and mid-tier companies, there are actually just two types of information technology groups in existence; 1) the strategic partner and 2) the necessary evil. If your business has competition then your IT group needs to interact and function like a strategic partner – if your business’ goal is to contain costs while maximizing profits, your IT group should interact and function like a strategic partner. So, what about the necessary evil option? Well, to put it simply, it shouldn’t be an option. Unfortunately, many organizations today still view their IT group as a necessary evil – e.g., “that expensive email and help desk group”, or “that group no one fully knows what they do.” More

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