We've often spoken about different software solutions and certain, specific areas of the Procurement flight deck which can be automated or digitised. Here, we're taking a step back and looking more holistically at dissecting a project from the conception, right the way through to after installation and commissioning has been completed and managing the performance of the vendor throughout the duration of the contract.

Sourcing a vendor, contracting with them, and then actually orchestrating an enterprise level digital transformation in procurement is no easy task.

My guest on this episode, Karthik Rama, who goes by the pseudonym "Procurement Doctor", has done this several times and shares his knowledge with us around what to consider when, and what the most common pitfalls are for the uninitiated.

2:15

Karthik explains his unique skill set and how this has served him well when being able to communicate with both procurement and technical / IT stakeholders.

3:00

Assuming procurement has the ownership of this initiative, then at what point should the project manager involve IT and start building relationships with the function?

4:45

How to go about understanding the marketplace. With all of the market intelligence out there, is there a still a need to do an RFI?

8:04

We discuss organisational maturity and how this is such a key factor to the success or failure of a procurement digital transformation

9:23

How to tackle the obvious problem that no buyer is likely to be an expert on this type of software, unless they're coming from an organisation which has already implemented procuretech.

11:15

The most common mistakes made during the RFP / vendor selection phase, and how to avoid making them!

14:32

Karthik shares his experiences of how open SaaS vendors are to negotiation during the contract process?

15:58

The vital importance of having an A player heading up the implementation of a digital transformation, as opposed to somebody who just has the bandwidth from a workload perspective. Karthik also shares a nugget of advice around which role specifically could be the best person to lead the implementation.

18:55

What works best in terms of mix when it comes to outsourcing certain aspects of a complex implementation to consultants, versus which functions or aspects of the project are better retained in-house?

20:57

Potential issues or watch-outs which could be lurking out there post-implementation and why hypercare period is key to ensure a successful handover.

24:33

When the project has been handed over, how does the day-to-day governance work from that point onwards? What happens when there are issues? Which ones has Karthik seen most frequently?

27:28

Typical contact periods, and pros and cons of going for shorter or longer agreements.

29:23

Karthik's LinkedIn profile