“Failure is not fatal, but failure to change might be.” – John Wooden
Recently, I was researching spend analysis and came across a study completed by the Aberdeen Group. Although the findings were released September 2004, I believe they are still very applicable:
- Spend data management is critical for supply management and business success.
- Insufficient visibility into spending is a corporate epidemic.
- Hurdles to spend data management include disparate data sources; inaccurate and incomplete spend data; limited category expense; incongruent naming conventions; and limited analysis tools.
- Improving spend data management offers measurable benefits.
At the time the findings were released, Aberdeen estimates that inadequate spend data management was costing businesses $260 billion in missed savings opportunities annually. Considering the GDP growth rate, that number today could potentially represent $280 billion in missed savings opportunities in 2010.
An effective spend management process can yield big dividends straight to your bottom line. If you have ever wondered how your company compares, this might just be your call to action.
