Business Trends
Intelligent Spend Management : Optimize source-to-contract cycle time
Quick recap : We learnt the why and what of the Intelligent Spend Management. Then I described how “best-run” companies move from just the standard operating procedures to best practices when it comes to sourcing & procurement.
Today, let us pivot into a specific process of “Source and contract”.
At SAP, we envision different processes and components of Intelligent Spend Management as you see below.
Source & Contract teams focus on the following key activities :
- Define & create the category strategy
- Identify and source material & services needs
- Finally, negotiate and manage contracts with trading partners
..but the ultimate goal of every Chief procurement officer is “Optimize source-to-contract cycle time” as that provides the required agility for the rest of the organizational units.


“55% Lower maverick spend for organizations where contracts are shared with employees and suppliers for collaboration, such as for red-lining and versioning” – SAP Performance Benchmarks & Estimates
Let me know what are other drivers to reduce the source-to-contract cycle time.
P.S.
If you are interested, you can read the entire source to pay value paper at one go here.
You may also wish to learn how our vision to value methodology links your vision for the future and SAP technology innovations to tangible business outcomes.