Events

Keep informed on the latest trends in procurement outsourcing and developments from ICG Commerce through our events calendar.

2010 AFP Annual Conference

Hosted By The Association for Finance Professionals

November 7-10, 2010
San Antonio, Texas

The Association for Finance Professionals is hosting the most important industry event for finance and treasury professionals of 2010. This conference will provide a wealth of unbiased and up-to-date information from prominent industry thought leaders, opportunities to network and collaborate with industry practitioners, colleagues, and vendors and comprehensive educational programming.

ICG Commerce in partnership with the Hackett Group will present the results of Hackett's latest research findings from their study Holding Procurement Accountable: Maximizing Liquidity By Identifying and Delivering Savings on Non-Core Expenditures to the Bottom Line. This forward thinking research identifies best practices in spend and savings visibility employed by leading companies. These companies have implemented processes, technology, and governance standards to ensure that the savings identified in the sourcing process actually hit the financial statements.

For more information, please visit AFP's Annual Conference website.

Recorded Webinars

View recorded webinars on procurement outsourcing.

How IT Leaders Are Capturing Missed Savings Opportunities

Hosted By Information Week

According to The Hackett Group, three in four companies have failed to drive enough SG&A reductions to offset declining revenues. Facing increased pressure for cost reductions, IT leaders from companies like Whirlpool, Kimberly-Clark and Hertz are responding by gaining greater control over project expenditures – a large but largely under-managed area of spending.

According to a recent performance study, IT organizations typically "self-source" these purchases (e.g., custom software applications, one-time hardware purchases, consulting services, network appliances, etc.) due to the lack of capacity and specialized IT expertise within the Procurement department. As a result, IT resources are taken away from core business activities, and a rigorous sourcing process is typically not applied – leaving tens of millions of savings and additional value on the table.

Find out how IT leaders are aggressively managing these purchases, through access to market intelligence and improved spend visibility, and contributing significant cost savings to the business.

During this webcast, Honorio Padrón of the Hackett Group and Carl Guarino of ICG Commerce share:

• Recent research findings on an untapped source of significant savings



• How IT leaders are gaining visibility to missed savings opportunities within their organizations



• How to quickly and effectively start driving cost savings – without sacrificing critical resources or activities

Presenters:
Honorio Padrón, Executive Advisor IT Global Practice Leader, The Hackett Group
Carl Guarino, CEO, ICG Commerce

Register to view the webinar

Capturing the Missed Savings on Under-Managed Spend

Hosted By CFO

Despite widespread adoption of formal cost reduction efforts, a recent Hackett study reported that three out of four Global 1000 companies are not generating cost reductions that match declining profits. At the same time, many companies still lack control over indirect expenditures, forfeiting hundreds of millions in cost savings opportunities.

Finance leaders at companies such as Whirlpool, Kimberly-Clark and Hertz are leveraging their influence across business units, along with innovative outsourcing solutions, to attack these expenditures and drive significant cost reductions. Many are getting started by addressing an area of spend that, according to The Hackett Group, is an untapped source of immediate savings.

During this webcast, Tom Willman of the Hackett Group and Carl Guarino of ICG Commerce share:

• How Finance executives can drive significant reductions in outside expenditures



• Findings from a recent Hackett study that highlight an area of hidden cost and opportunity for immediate savings



• How to quickly and effectively start capturing these cost savings

Presenters:
Tom Willman, Senior Business Advisor, Finance Practice, The Hackett Group
Carl Guarino, CEO, ICG Commerce

Register to view the webinar

How Leading Companies Effectively Leverage Procurement Outsourcing to Increase Control and Drive Additional Value from External Spend

Procurement leaders are constantly evaluating selective outsourcing as a tool to help them increase control and drive additional value from their external spend. Join leaders from Masterfoods, Greif and The Timken Company as they share applicable information, opinions, and real life examples of how they successfully incorporated outsourcing into their procurement strategies:

Myron Gramelspacher, Vice President of Global Indirects, Greif - world leader in industrial packaging products and services

Steve Lee, General Manager of Global Indirects, The Timken Company - leading manufacturer of highly engineered bearings, alloy and specialty steel

Adrienne Alwin, Commercial Manager, Masterfoods (division of Mars Inc.) - leading global consumer products company

Moderated by Tariq Hassan, CEO, The Buying Triangle and former CPO for Deutsche Bank, these experienced procurement leaders will discuss leveraging procurement services within their organizations and provide:

• Individual insight into how their companies made the decision to include procurement outsourcing as part of their ongoing strategy
• Candid opinions on its effects on their operations and how it works within their enterprises
• Measurable results – the impact that it has made on their organizations in terms of gaining better control of their spend and processes, and driving compliance and savings

Register to view the webinar

Strategies for Successful Procurement Outsourcing

According to Aberdeen Group, a leading research analyst firm, procurement outsourcing benchmarking assists business executives assess the maturity and competency of their procurement operating models and identify how procurement outsourcing may help improve control and performance. Rick Saia, Research Analyst for Aberdeen Group and co-author of the recent Procurement Outsourcing Benchmark Report, will provide insights into how leading companies are moving beyond cost reductions and leveraging procurement outsourcing as an element of their successful procurement strategies. The discussion will explore the following:

• How procurement outsourcing supports the critical strategies that transform procurement into a major contributor to enterprise value and can help you refocus internal staff on activities strategic to your company;
• How to determine if procurement outsourcing is right for your organization and to begin formulating your solution and assessing provider capabilities; and
• The key steps to outsourcing success based on your current procurement capabilities and goals.

Register to view the webinar

How to Increase Control and Improve Effectiveness Via Procurement Outsourcing

As the demands for improved savings and organizational efficiencies increase, more businesses are leveraging procurement outsourcing as a strategy to gain greater control of their spend, processes, suppliers and internal compliance – maximizing the value they are delivering to their organizations. But is it the right choice – and the right fit – for your company?

Outsourcing select procurement activities can actually help companies acquire the resources and capabilities needed to exceed savings goals, increase supplier and process compliance, and provide an on-going source of continuous improvement. Organizations are increasingly turning to specialists like ICG Commerce help them meet the challenge of "doing more with less." Shruti Yadav, BPO Research Analyst with IDC and coauthor of numerous recent studies on the procurement BPO landscape, will provide insight on how leading companies are leveraging procurement outsourcing to produce sustainable and measurable results. The discussion will answer the following questions:

• Why should my company consider procurement outsourcing?
• How are procurement leaders using outsourcing to drive strategic value?
• What are common procurement outsourcing approaches?
• How have companies developed their procurement outsourcing strategy?

Register to view the webinar

Procurement Outsourcing: A CPO's Strategic Lever for Achieving Procurement Excellence Webinar

Based upon responses to a recent survey of Chief Procurement Officers, leading BPO research analyst NelsonHall is projecting 26% growth in the procurement outsourcing market. CPOs indicated that outsourcing the management of non-core commodities and processes allows them to focus their in-house talent on the most strategic activities, gain fast access to additional category expertise and tools, address more company “spend”, and accelerate and improve the execution of procurement programs.

If you are not already outsourcing select procurement activities, you may be leaving huge savings opportunities on the table. ICG Commerce has helped over a dozen companies leverage procurement outsourcing as a strategy to improve overall procurement performance and effectiveness.

Register to view the webinar

Building the Case for Procurement Excellence through Outsourcing

Based upon responses to a recent survey of over 750 supply chain executives, Aberdeen Group, a leading research analyst firm, reports that enterprises using procurement outsourcing services to augment overall procurement strategies have recognized rapid and measurable reductions in their cost structures, improved spend leverage and control, and operational efficiencies. ICG Commerce, a Procurement Services Provider, has helped over a dozen companies achieve such benefits by implementing tailored indirect outsourcing solutions.

Tim Minahan, SVP of Supply Chain Research with Aberdeen Group and Jason Gilroy, VP of Procurement Outsourcing for ICG Commerce will share insights, gleaned from recent research and real-world success stories, and answer questions on the following:

• How to identify and prioritize opportunities for outsourcing
• How to build a compelling business case
• How to develop a selection strategy based on existing and future requirements

Register to view the webinar