Things are moving fast in these challenging times as both individuals and companies struggle to keep up with changing demands and plan for an uncertain financial future. In response, we are already starting to see many clients (a) put most major technology spending projects on hold and (b) look closely at supplier contracts (almost none of which contemplate a reality such as the one we are facing today). As a result of a confluence of these and other factors, we are seeing an unprecedented level of activity in renegotiating technology supplier contracts, including but not limited to: The force majeure clause in most agreements Government ...
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William Edwards Deming (1900-1993) is widely acknowledged as the leading thinker in the field of quality. He was a statistician and business consultant who is well known for his “14 Points for Management”. He used to say that ‘management is prediction,’ by which he meant that every decision is also a prediction about the future. The rate of change continues to increase, and as it does the business environment becomes ever more complex. Amidst this complex and uncertain environment, business still has to accomplish something – by getting work done. And getting work done is increasingly outsourced to 3rd parties. In 2017, the global ...
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Most clients today use a complicated procedure for processing supplier payments to ensure the process is not only accurate and complete, but also: comports with the terms of the commercial agreement performs in compliance with the conditions of the contractual agreement is done with authenticated trading partners isn’t fraudulent or illicit in any way is fully auditable An Example of This Authentication Process: A Purchase Requisition is made, signifying the internal demand for the seller’s products and services. The terms of a Commercial Arrangement are agreed to, including product, service, and pricing information. A Contractual Agreement ...
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What is the Thrive Ultimatum? 2019 will present the 'C-Suite' with a Digital Transformation ultimatum. Digital initiatives can no longer be ‘shelved’ or viewed as a future innovation that are delayed by a myriad of excuses. Organizations operating this way are often in survival mode, feeling encumbered by forces outside their control. But survival is no longer enough as consumers, businesses, and shareholders demand that organizations move past survival mode, to thrive mode and cross the chasm of digital change and disruption now. Organizations that recognize this imperative and act on it are succeeding in the digital age. Those that decide ...
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‘The Most Wonderful Time of the Year’ is a popular holiday song and was written by Edward Pola and George Wyle in 1963. It was popularized in North America by singer Andy Williams that same year on his television show by the same name. However, we didn’t have to do much research to learn that the inspiration for that song had nothing to do with the 4th quarter for most business leaders and their respective companies. Anecdotally, we believe most business leaders might say it’s the most *stressful* time of the year, especially for publicly traded companies – most of whom have their fiscal year end aligned with the calendar year end of ...
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Over the past 16 years, we’ve seen almost every way possible for an organization to lose value in their technology supplier arrangements, agreements, and relationships. Sometimes these situations arise from external forces that leave little in the way of options like mergers, acquisitions, or litigation. Many times, however, we find that organizations could have improved if only they had a few key insights. If a company is willing to take the necessary steps to acknowledge where they have shortcomings in information, expertise, and experience, they could avoid many of these pitfalls. It’s difficult to know what you don’t know, and as a ...
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