Services Procurement Insights: The Big Reveal report

The Big Reveal


Services Procurement Insights: The Big Reveal
Unlock more value from your invisible workforce.

How much do you
know about your
invisible workforce?

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SAP Fieldglass, in collaboration with Oxford Economics, conducted a global research study examining the increasingly important role of services providers – such as strategy firms, marketing agencies, and IT consultancies – in getting work done. This "invisible workforce" is critical to organizations’ success and a huge amount is spent on these services.

However, services providers are frequently under-managed – preventing organizations from maximizing value and exposing them to risk.

Four key actions

We have distilled the research into four actions you can take to better manage your services providers and drive better ROI.

Illuminate your
invisible workforce
Only 25%

of executives are highly informed about quality of work of their services providers.

Illuminate your
invisible workforce

Effective management requires clear visibility, but many organizations struggle to track the basics of services providers, let alone quality of work or progress against milestones.

Illuminate your
invisible workforce

Effective management requires clear visibility, but many organizations struggle to track the basics of services providers, let alone quality of work or progress against milestones.

Manage
with rigor
Just 10%

of executives say they measure services providers’ performance against stated goals very well.

Manage
with rigor

To maximize value, organizations must apply the same rigor to managing services providers as they do their employees – including assessing performance and risk.

Manage
with rigor

To maximize value, organizations must apply the same rigor to managing services providers as they do their employees – including assessing performance and risk.

Rise above
the silos
Only 22%

of executives rate collaboration between HR and Procurement in managing services providers as highly effective.

Rise above
the silos

Collaboration between Procurement, HR, IT, and the lines of business helps organizations manage services providers with more rigor and deliver stronger business outcomes.

Rise above
the silos

Collaboration between Procurement, HR, IT, and the lines of business helps organizations manage services providers with more rigor and deliver stronger business outcomes.

See your contribution
in a new light
One in four

projects done by services providers is not completed on time or on budget.

See your contribution
in a new light

Proactive, effective management of services providers empowers individuals to excel in their areas of responsibility and make significant contributions to their organization’s success.

See your contribution
in a new light

Proactive, effective management of services providers empowers individuals to excel in their areas of responsibility and make significant contributions to their organization’s success.

A sneak peek at the key findings 

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Pacesetters outperform others and realize better outcomes.

11% of research participants stand head and shoulders above the rest. These “Pacesetters” outshine others in their:  

  • Visibility of services providers  

  • Effective management of services providers 

  • Competitiveness in a digital world 

Learn how Pacesetters stand out from the crowd.

Here’s how to get started

Unlock the true potential of your services providers:

  • View services providers as an extension of your workforce.
  • Identify the capabilities you will need to succeed in the digital era – and how best to access them.
  • Gain visibility into services providers’ quality of work to help you improve ROI.
  • Improve cross-functional collaboration in managing services providers.
  • Equip your leadership with total workforce visibility to enable better decision-making.
  • Gain executive sponsorship for your program to help you drive change.

For more in-depth actionable insights, download the full report.

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To find out how to unlock greater value from your services providers, download the full report. 
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