I remember the first time I read a Gartner report at FreeMarkets. Our account representative at the time pointed out a new report dedicated to examining “strategic sourcing” — something that would be right up our alley. He referred me to a printed brief (this was back before online access was a regular thing) and suggested it might be worth sharing with the rest of my organization. Little did I know at the time that the subject that Gartner — and the other industry analysts, for that matter — defined as “strategic sourcing” was an extremely narrow definition focused on the procurement of IT hardware, services, and support, almost entirely from the perspective of the CIO (vs. that of procurement). Unfortunately, this IT-centric view of strategic sourcing persists, as analysts continue to mistakenly refer to the universe of IT spend as the broader concept of strategic sourcing. A recent Forrester blog perpetuates this misconception of the broader role of sourcing in the enterprise.
Now, not to blame Forrester entirely — I believe Gartner instigated this false label, and perpetuates it to this day in the bowels of its IT coverage. Moreover, there may be something we can learn from the marginalization of the broader role, based on what the analysts have to say…
Read this and other articles @ Spend Matters
