Data-driven procurement

Q&A with Adrian Cox VP, Data Management and Digital Solutions

How does data help drive procurement solutions? Entegra’s Adrian Cox, Vice President of Data Management and Digital Solutions weighed in on this topic during a recent webinar. While the event was part of a series of webinars for the lodging industry, the lessons it delivered about using data-driven insights can help any operator with a procurement function.

Read below for Adrian’s guidance when it comes to the role that data should play in your procurement process.

How has the use of data evolved in the procurement business?

“So, we’ve seen an increase in the number of technology providers as well as the breadth of services being offered in the procurement space over the last few years. We’ve seen the growth of AI-assisted tech and much more user-friendly and intuitive interfaces and dashboards. They are easier to implement with not as much lead-time or training to get off the ground.

“We’ve also seen a lot of technology that focuses on time-saving applications, consolidating roles and functions to save businesses time and deal with staffing issues.

“Being able to react to changes is going to be the key to the future.” -- Adrian Cox

With so much data available, how does an operator focus on what’s relevant and leverage their most important data?

“You’ve got to start with complete, clean and well-organized data. When we look at what data we want to provide, we look at supply-chain strategies, as well as your differentiators, strengths, weaknesses and priorities. We then let this lead us to the right KPIs for what you’re looking for. Is it pricing trends? Are you trying to identify anomalies or product availability? Then you collect data around these areas.

“One of the keys to remember is that a KPI that leads to quick decision making is much more valuable than one that takes a long time to gather. You don’t want your decision window to close while you’re still gathering data.”

What are some trends in procurement that you’re keeping an eye on?

“We’ll continue to see stronger adoption of e-procurement, digital commerce, cloud computing and AI. Technology has become an important consideration when picking a partner to work with.

“Who’s going to be able to provide the tools and technologies you need? Who’s going to be able to integrate with your systems? Even your selection of partners is going to be impacted by your ability to adopt different technologies.”

Does your organization need to better incorporate data-driven insights into your strategy? Explore Entegra’s data and digital services or, for more information, contact us.