There are many factors that dictate the cost of goods - from competition to market trends to margin. It's important to develop the analytical skills of your team members to better equip them with the business intelligence to play a more profound role on the procurement team. Learn how to gather and interpret important market data and procurement analytics and put it to work for your organization. Here are six important data points to consider when looking to improve your sourcing and procurement training.

1. USING ANALYTICS
FOR MARKET
TREND ANALYSIS
& IMPROVED
PROCUREMENT
SIXIMPORTANT
POINTS
ON DATA

2. Copyright © 2017 Accenture All rights reserved
LOOKING TO
IMPROVE YOUR
SOURCING AND
PROCUREMENT
SKILLS?

3. Copyright © 2017 Accenture All rights reserved
SEE WHAT MIGHT BE MISSING IN YOUR PROCUREMENT
ANALYTICS PROCESSES
The use of analytics in
procurement is nothing
new - but it continues to
be more important than
ever.
In fact, Aberdeen suggests
there is $260 billion in
missed savings
opportunities annually!
Procurement professionals
can determine if a market
is stagnant, declining or
growing, and how to
evolve with industry
change.
This data sets companies
apart by allowing for
improved decision-
making, providing a
competitive edge and
better positioning for
sustainable growth.
Procurement analytics is
the process of using
quantitative methods to
derive actionable insights
and outcomes from data.
It involves capturing and
using historical data to
support fact-based
decisions to gain an
advantage in the
marketplace.

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MACHINES&
TECHNOLOGY
CONTINUETO
EVOLVE
POINT 1
It’s an expectation that each
year brings about new
technology that will help
grow our businesses (and
society, as a whole).
Soon, technology will
emerge that allows for even
more insightful and richer
analysis.
A few important apps that
Accenture Academy expects
to appear in the next 5-7
years to improve
Procurement Processes
include:
• Virtual Company
• Supply Analytics
• Virtual Supplier Room
• Virtual Category Room
• Supplier Network
These technologies will
serve as the underlying
infrastructure of
Procurement in 2020.

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For the data analysis novice, or
professionals with limited statistical
experience, data visualization helps
to more easily tell the story in today’s
busy business world. This can include
internal collaboration or when
negotiating with outside vendors.
Having the right skills and
tools in place to turn your
data into usable takeaways is
key. Our reports show there’s
35% accuracy in a “gut-feel”
decision vs. 95% accuracy in
Analytics.
SHOW YOUR WORK TO
WIN YOUR CASE
POINT 2
DATAVISUALIZATION
CANGOALONGWAY

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SHIFTFROMPREDICTIVE
TOPRESCRIPTIVE
ANALYTICS
Data is great in that it allows us to make
decisions based on historical fact, rather
than assumptions. Resulted action items
are what makes big data so popular and
coveted by most large organizations.
However, it’s no longer acceptable to just
interpret data. The newest concept, and
rightfully so, is prescriptive Analytics, or
recommended actions with extreme
confidence due to data trends and insight.
Data-enabled Procurement Analytics
provides the foundation.
AREAS THAT THIS DATA COULD GIVE CPOS
A COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE INCLUDE
COMMODITY PRICING
PRODUCT COSTS
COMPLIANCE
PLANNING
QUALITY AND RELIABILITY
POINT 3
1
2
3
4
5

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Leverage the right
technology and talent
to structure and
organize your data to
turn it from random
digits to concrete
decisions.
According to CIPS,
80% of all data is
unstructured.
It will help your
company benefit in the
long run.
Sources of data are
endless, especially with
digital tools.
Consider CRMs, cloud
collaboration, social media,
website and more; getting
data isn’t the issue.
Organizations are now
faced with mining through
and making the most sense
of the information overload.
80%POINT 4
TIME TO GET
ORGANIZED
WITH DATA
Copyright © 2017 Accenture All rights reserved

8. Copyright © 2017 Accenture All rights reserved
SPEND ANALYSIS
OFFERS TREMENDOUS
COST SAVING
POTENTIAL
Data exists in a number of resources
across your Procurement team’s
tools - from accounts payable to
enterprise resource planning to bank
feeds. Many companies today still
rely on outdated legacy systems.
Spend analyses are then performed
within individual sites or divisions, or
within single data sets. The results
are inconclusive.
Instead, organizations should
understand systems that gather
data and ensure completeness
of spend records while
assessing the usefulness of that
data. Through the right
technology and talent, these
practices can be done quicker
and with more accuracy.
Aberdeen estimates that inadequate spend data management capabilities are costing
businesses $260 billion in missed savings opportunities annually
POINT 5

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IT’S IMPERATIVE TO BRIDGE
THE PROCUREMENT TALENT
GAP
POINT 6
• The IDC projects businesses will spend more than
$60 billion on cognitive solutions by 2025. Still, it’s
not to say that jobs will be lost due to artificial
Business Intelligence and cognitive solutions.
Instead, we humans will be required to work smarter
and lean on those machines to do our jobs more
efficiently.
• The 2015 MIT Sloan Management Review found that
40% of companies struggle with finding the talent
they need. Majors that produce data scientists are
becoming more popular but the pool still remains
slim.
• It is in the best interest of larger organizations to
provide seasoned professionals with the training
they need to perform their Procurement jobs better.
Also, retaining that talent should not be overlooked.
Copyright © 2017 Accenture All rights reserved

10. Copyright © 2017 Accenture All rights reserved
LOOKING
FOR HELP?
• Accenture Academy meets the needs of
organizations for broader and more
integrated employee skill sets by offering
an extensive, proven Analytics curriculum.
• We integrate that curriculum with a variety
of specialty and business-management
skills in areas such as process excellence,
project management, risk management and
leadership.
• As a worldwide leader in innovative and
effective learning solutions, Accenture
Academy provides a blended, interactive
and highly engaging learning environment.
• Our courses are designed to help
organizations achieve measurable business
outcomes, and our learning professionals
work with clients to keep learning plans
aligned with changing strategies and
business goals.

11. Copyright © 2017 Accenture All rights reserved
LEARN MORE
SOURCES
• http://www.forbes.com/sites/bernardmarr/2016/08/16/how-to-use-analytics-to-identify-trends-in-your-
market/#4435ca94228b
• http://www.scmworld.com/how-procurement-can-harness-big-data-analytics/
• http://www.slideshare.net/rajatdhawan/use-of-analytics-in-procurement
• https://www.cips.org/supply-management/opinion/2014/october/five-tips-how-procurement-can-use-big-
data-effectively/
• http://www.cio.com/article/3025869/analytics/6-analytics-trends-that-will-shape-business-in-2016.html
• https://www.unspsc.org/Portals/3/Documents/Best%20Practices%20in%20Spending%20Analysis%20--
%20Cure%20for%20a%20Corporate%20Epidemic.pdf
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