Tuesday 16 June 2015

Why 'The Networked Economy' Is Bigger Than Software

Fresh on the heels of Ariba LIVE conferences in Las Vegas and Munich, Procurement Leaders’ Eva Milko looks at why the ’networked economy’ needs to be in procurement’s plans for the future. 

The future is here and it is connected. Two recent Ariba conferences gave me
 a glimpse into the transformation that
is occurring among supply chain and procurement organisations.

I would like to highlight a few ideas worth sharing: according to the experts, we are transitioning from the ‘internet economy’ to a ‘networked economy’, creating exponential hyper-connectivity among things that, up until now, were disconnected.

It is estimated that by 2020, there will
 be 75 billion connected devices, connecting 2.5 billion people on social networks, creating $65tn in global business moving around the globe. And it does not stop there. A Success Factors study highlights the fact that 83% of surveyed executives are using contingent workers in some shape or form, and depending on the research, by 2020, 40% to 50% of the entire world’s workforce will be contract or contingent staff.

The networked economy brings forth exponential acceleration of digital technologies. It connects ideas, people, businesses and machines to change the way business innovates, partnerships are redefined and society functions, not to mention the nature of life and work itself.

Most of us are not used to thinking in big, exponential numbers and up until now, we were not required to. But imagine what can be done in a world where everything is tracked and measured. Those more forward-facing companies are taking advantage of monetising these hidden capacities. The exciting part for me is that the future of work expands the formula for success.

What does this mean for procurement and supply chain professionals? Many CPOs in a recent study by CPO Rising, continue to quote their priorities as cost savings, process efficiencies, compliance and working capital. Some begin to discuss procurement-led innovation and supplier collaboration, while the focus on people and talent is also often on the forefront of the discussion.

What became clear at Ariba Live in Las Vegas this year
 is that it all starts with people: individuals 
who can think in exponential terms and who are comfortable with hyper connectivity; professionals who are capable of imagining and building connections across vast and diverse ecosystems, carefully crafting new webs of information, insights and ideas; people who are capable of not just retooling, but rebooting their careers multiple times over.

It is these people who will bring ideas on cost savings and process efficiencies. But, more importantly, it is these professionals who will have the skills and courage to take us beyond our current state and into the world of the networked economy.

You can read Eva Milko’s regular column in the latest issue of Procurement Leaders Magazine. Find out more here.

This article is a piece of independent writing by a member of Procurement Leaders’ content team.



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