Improving Services Procurement Transparency and Stewardship

The Canadian Institute for Procurement and Materiel Management (CIPMM) hosted its 33rd Annual National Workshop in Ottawa in June. Over 900 procurement professionals from the government and the industry attended the conference to learn and exchange best-practices on transforming procurement and supply chain practices.

Infosys Public Services had the pleasure of hosting a technology exhibit at the conference. We demonstrated how public sector organizations are modernizing their procurement, and how cloud-based procurement platforms like SAP Fieldglass transform services and contingent workforce procurement. This blog captures the discussions we had during the conference related to services and contingent workforce procurement.

Services and Contingent Workforce or Taskforce Procurement

Public sector organizations often procure services and contract workforce members based on project or operational needs. Recent trends in hiring practices have shown a steep increase in procurement of contractual employees and services instead of permanent employment and inhouse end to end projects.

The two classifications of procurement for tasks would be services procurement and contingent workforce. Services procurement could be defined as an activity of contracting an external firm to oversee and/or execute a particular task. Contingent workforce are the non-permanent people associated with the main organization for the execution of a particular task.

Both practices, herein referred to as Taskforce Procurement, are an essential component of organizational performance, with the ability to have a substantial effect on organizational efficiency. However, Taskforce Procurement can only generate the intended value when it reflects transparency, well-designed processes, and everyone in the organization is working toward the same objectives.

Taskforce Procurement Challenges

Challenges experienced with Taskforce Procurement typically fall into three categories: Process, People and Performance.

Process Challenges

• Inconsistent processes to identify timesheet practices that are not contractually compliant lead to discrepancies in addressing contract violations
• Lack of transparent processes to keep expenses within the contract limit can result in various risks like overspending, ineffective budget management, legal and financial implications, and reduced supplier trust
• Non-standardized onboarding and offboarding processes can result in worker misclassification
• Risk of security breaches increase from not knowing who is accessing systems or if they have been vetted
• Inability to adapt to changing tax structures, labor laws, and regulations increase risk of non-compliance
• Lack of formal analytics and reporting, and varied processes result in reduced visibility and control on spending, supplier performance etc.

People Challenges

• Wasted time and human error due to fragmented processes
• Difficulty in accessing qualified candidates due to the lack of a centralized database

Performance Challenges

• Different entities with different hiring managers across the business may pay different rates for the same type of service resulting in sub-optimal value-for-money
• Lack of real time and market data analytics for organizations to measure and track value

Transform Taskforce Procurement with Cloud-based Procurement Platforms

Over the last 20+ years Infosys and our partners have successfully delivered over 780 supply chain and procurement transformation programs for organizations across public and commercial sectors. Several of these programs have been related to Taskforce Procurement, making it more transparent, efficient, and effective. We’ve realized cloud-based procurement platforms like SAP Fieldglass, combined with procurement best practices, proven execution models, and solution accelerators, can help organizations modernize Taskforce Procurement.

SAP Fieldglass is a 360° cloud-based solution for procurement professionals to initiate, engage, manage, and complete all Taskforce Procurement through its four key modules that support – Services Procurement, Contingent Workforce Management, Worker Profile Management, and Assignment Management.

The solution allows organizations to:

• Create on-demand workforce capacity by enabling any user to quickly recognize candidates, provide competitive pay based on real-time market data, and organize interviews/hiring personnel from multiple devices including a mobile app.
• Manage services procurement for the most effective outcomes by getting requisitions authorized within days instead of weeks or months, collaborating with MSPs to get potential employees within a week, and ensuring those prospects comply with the hiring manager's requirements.
• Establish proactive compliance controls by automating labour rates and tenure in multiple regions, checking invoice correctness and compliance with local laws and regulations, and implementing on/offboarding protocols that boost security.

Our clients, and several people we met at the CIPMM Annual Workshop, reported realization of measurable benefits through the use of SAP Fieldglass for Taskforce Procurement. They mentioned being able to:

• Receive alerts when contracts near their threshold amount to keep spending in check
• Automate editable onboarding/offboarding checklist for more effective asset tracking
• Get a unique identification code for each working unit to ensure transparency across the organization
• Reduce cost and realize greater savings through improved rate management, reduce invoice errors, improved worker quality and overall efficient operations
• Generate comprehensive and accurate reports, using real-time data and analytics, for improved decision making

You can also determine the potential savings your organization can realize, and identify the modules it should use, through these online SAP tools:

• Identify the module that’s relevant to your needs
• Calculate your potential savings

What did you get? Let us know or contact us to learn how your organization can leverage cloud-based platforms like SAP Fieldglass to transform Taskforce Procurement.

Author Details

Amal Kuriakose, Project Manager

Amal is a supply chain management professional with 14+ years of experience in diverse domains such as Banking, Retail, Pharmaceutical, and Public Sector. He played a key role in the implementation of Public Services and Procurement Canada’s EPS Program. Amal holds two SAP certifications, SAP Ariba Procurement – Application Associate and SAP Fieldglass Services – Certified Associate. With his expertise in leveraging SAP Procurement tools, he excels in implementing efficient procurement practices.

Shree Varsha Selvam, Analyst- Business Consulting

Shree Varsha is a results driven professional with over 8 years of experience in various phases of software development lifecycle as a Business Analyst and QA lead.

Madhura Salunke, Lead Consultant

Madhura has over 8 years of experience in Digital Transformation. With a bachelor’s in engineering and master’s in technology management she has worked on a spectrum of projects focusing on Business Analysis and Project Management in commercial as well as government sector. She started her career in the Manufacturing-Automotive industry and has worked on Procurement- Supply Chain among other domains. Madhura currently holds Certified Scrum Master (CSM) and Certified Scrum Product Owner (CSPO) certifications.