10th Annual IBX Purchasing Executive Summit Keynote Focuses on Social Media’s Influence on the Purchasing World

When I was asked to both speak at as well as moderate the 10th Annual IBX Purchasing Executive Summit in Stockholm in early October, it represented what is quickly becoming a busy fall speaking schedule that will also take me to places such as the United Kingdom and British Columbia. The focus of my Keynote [...]

Outsourcing Revisited: Is It A Viable Strategy?

According to recent studies, two-thirds of all outsourcing programs fail to achieve the expected results. In fact some studies even suggest that this estimate is low putting the number as high as 90 percent. And this is not a new phenomenon.  Industry reports and articles between 1995 and 2007 tend to suggest that little progress [...]

Conrad Black’s “sunset” lament: “I am big. It’s the pictures that got small!”

As I looked at the picture of Conrad Black arriving in a limo at a rented ocean side mansion in Palm Beach, Florida following his release from prison, I was immediately reminded of a line from the 1950 classic movie Sunset Blvd. when the iconic Norma Desmond reflecting on her career in silent pictures dismissed [...]

Europe seeks access to lucrative Canadian contracts (but what does it really mean to Canadian business?)

Meetings in Brussels between the EU and Canada this month ran longer than expected as negotiators considered allowing European bids for public works contracts in Canada worth an estimated $100 billion a year . . . European industry wants access to Canada’s regional and local public works contracts, from provincial energy infrastructure to municipal water [...]

Seven Part Series on successful government contracting wraps up on a high note

Back in January when we aired the first episode of Judy Bradt’s acclaimed 7-Part Seven Steps To Success: Jump Start Government Contract Series, we had a clear objective  for both suppliers and buyers. As a supplier you would gain the necessary insights to shorten the time-line between the response to government tenders, and the realization [...]

Procurement ombudsman says Federal buying policy unwittingly helping to create monopolies

“A supplier taking all the work ultimately leads to a monopoly.  As the number of bidders shrink, service declines, and prices and profit margins creep upward, said procurement expert Jon Hansen, who runs a consultancy called Procurement Insights.” from Federal buying policy raises alarm (Government unwittingly helping to create monopolies, procurement ombudsman says) by Kathryn [...]

Seven Steps To Success in Government Contracting: Marketing

“People Buy from whom they know, like and trust.” During the previous six segments of this seven part series with expert author Judy Bradt in which we have talked about success in government contracting, this immutable truth has been consistently presented as a key tenet for effectively penetrating the government marketplace and positioning oneself for [...]

Data Security: The Maginot Line of Contracting

“For those of us in contracting, we spend hours crafting clauses and negotiating terms which are mostly of limited honesty or meaning. Is this because we really don’t care, or because we are blissfully unaware of the truth? Companies simply cannot promise complete security of data or information management. It is an area of relative [...]

Clarity in Contracting . . . More Than a Question of Automation (A Contract IQ Post)

“That said and in line with the above referenced October 30th, 2008 Procurement Insights post, Evans stressed the importance for government buyers to “put out has much information as possible to remove any barriers or perceived barriers for suppliers.” While Evans stressed the importance of reaching out and engaging as many suppliers as possible, especially [...]

The Cure for Enterprise Software Fatigue

Whenever I am contacted by a vendor for a “pre” press release briefing, I always go into the discussion with one part interest, one part cynicism and one part optimism. The interest of course is part of my natural curiosity about almost anything – which is why I guess I enjoy hosting a talk radio [...]

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