Sourcing Professional Services is Big Hit at Best Practices Xchange
The Best Practices Xchange ("BPX") (www. BestPracticesXchange. com) met on Friday, February 22, 2008 for a one day summit which was attended by a "Who's Who" of top Strategic Sourcing, Procurement, and Supply Chain Executives. This session focused on "Sourcing Professional Services", where BPX members explored how they effectively source professional services within today's volatile sourcing and supply-chain environment.
Oak Brook, IL (PRWEB) March 5, 2008
The Best Practices Xchange ("BPX") (www. BestPracticesXchange. com) met on Friday, February 22, 2008 for a one day summit which was attended by a "Who's Who" of top Strategic Sourcing, Procurement, and Supply Chain Executives. This session focused on "Sourcing Professional Services", where BPX members explored how they effectively source professional services within today's volatile sourcing and supply-chain environment.
This session was very well received by the membership, and received accolades all around. "This session was particularly insightful for me" declared one BPX delegate, the Vice President of Purchasing and Administrative Services for a large financial services company. "We have numerous take-aways for our team. It was the strongest BPX session ever!"
Feedback from other members was also very positive. Among those comments were:
"At BPX we learn a lot in a very little time." "BPX is an enjoyable and interactive learning experience." "BPX is an excellent forum for sharing ideas with peers from other industries."
Dalip Raheja, President, CEO, and founding partner of The Mpower Group gave a presentation on how successful strategic sourcing of professional services requires the understanding of many aspects the landscape: supplier economics and the market; developing a enterprise-wide strategy and competency; formalizing the management process; aligning "due diligence" reviews with the complexity of opportunity; awarding contracts based on clear, consistent, and relevant criteria and business rationale; and leveraging specialists where appropriate, among other issues. Dalip's comments defined the standards by which professional sourcing should be conducted and set the stage for the ensuing Roundtable discussion.
Each of the members of BPX brought to the Roundtable discussion their own unique strategies for sourcing professional services and shared the experiences, successes, and challenges of their own environment. Each member completed a professional services sourcing Best Practices Diagnostic in advance of the meeting, which was used by Anne Kohler, SVP, COO, and founding partner of The Mpower Group, to facilitate the discussions. Issues such as: "how your sourcing group influences enterprise-wide professional services spend"; "what is your enterprise-wide professional services sourcing strategy"; and "what are the professional services sourcing approval processes employed within your enterprise" dominated the discussions.
Brad Peterson, Esq., of Mayer Brown LLP, a leading global law firm, spoke on Framework Agreements, professional services outsourcing, some pros and cons, and issues and challenges.
Enterprise-wide issue inclusions, rather than supplier-specific terms and conditions highlighted the core of Mr. Peterson's presentation. Members raved at Brad's presentation and applauded his insights, perspective, and "legal" view of the professional services sourcing and outsourcing issues.
About BPX:
The Best Practice Xchange ("BPX") is a by-invitation-only, peer-to-peer group with a charter to provide thought leadership, advanced solutions, and networking opportunities to group members. The group meets four times a year and the meetings are facilitated by the globally recognized and award-winning Oak Brook, IL based Sourcing, Procurement, and Supply Chain consultancy and premier training organization - The Mpower Group.
BPX addresses major Global Strategic Sourcing, Procurement, and Supply Chain Management challenges such as:
Building world-class Sourcing and Supply Chain Management Organizations Supplier Relationship Management (SRM) and Governance Outcome Based Process Improvement Integration of 6 Sigma and Strategic Sourcing Managing IT Outsourcing Arrangements
As is customary with every BPX meeting, one-half of the very nominal membership dues are allocated to support a charity designated by the membership. Some of the past charities that have been supported by this group include: the Ronald McDonald House Charities; a School for destitute children in India; the Bush-Clinton Katrina Fund; various Chicago-area Domestic Violence Prevention Agencies; and the CS Foundation (India).
A short list of the membership and attendees of the 10Th Best Practices Xchange Symposium includes the following companies:
Director of Supply Chain, WE Energies
VP Corporate Purchasing, Volvo Construction Equipment
SVP & Chief Supply Office, Exelon
Director, Global Purchasing, Caterpillar, Inc.
Director of National Purchasing, Discover Financial Services
VP Administrative Services - Purchasing and Distribution, State Farm Insurance
Director of Procurement, Sidley Austin LLP
CIO & Chief Procurement Officer, FMC Technologies
VP & Chief Procurement Officer, Health Care Services Corporation
VP Enterprise Procurement Group, CNA Insurance
VP Supply Services, Ameren
Director Supply Chain, APV/Invensys
VP Purchasing, John Deere
About The Mpower Group:
The Mpower Group ("TMG"), a State of Illinois certified minority supplier with offices in Oak Brook, IL, assists Fortune 500 organizations globally, solving complex issues related to their Supply Chain and Strategic Sourcing operations including outsourcing and off-shoring. TMG emphasizes world-class business practices related to strategy, process, and technology that truly drive superior financial results for our clients.
The mission of The Mpower Group is to Mpower client organizations to become self-reliant as quickly as possible by actively transferring skill and knowledge, while holistically integrating consulting disciplines with change management techniques. We are recognized thought leaders in Strategic Sourcing and authorities on change management, with large, complex organization experience. TMG brings focused, skilled teams to each engagement, which have a strong bias for actionable results.
Contact Information:
Pete Iacullo
Director of Sales and Marketing
The Mpower Group
2021 Midwest Road, Suite 105
Oak Brook, IL 60523
1-888-5-Mpower (toll-free USA)
(+001) 630.268.8963 (International)
PeteI @ TheMpowerGroup. com
Www. TheMpowerGroup. com
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