The term – Big Data – is relatively new and may overwhelm many people, however, it is a large volume of structured or unstructured data, gathered by a business on a daily basis, analyzed for insights that lead procurement to make better strategic business decisions. This act of gathering and storing large amounts of data for eventual analysis is ages old, so what is the fuss all about, you ask?

Here it is.

Earlier, historical data was used for analysis which did not quite reflect the constant changes and trends in the market. However, with the advent of big data, companies have access to torrents of real time data, that keeps evolving at an unprecedented speed, from a variety of sources. Big data analytics holds the potential to unlock new avenues to drive the organization’s ability to improve performance, drive innovation and change across the supply chain.

The Big Impact on Procurement Data

In the past, procurement was merely seen as a purchase function, but today it is evolving towards being a more trusted strategic business advisor. The organization’s procurement function is gaining focus as the management realizes the strategic impact it has on the topline growth and is being given a seat at the strategic decision making table. Business heads are increasingly relying on procurement to create a sustainable competitive advantage. Why so, you ask?

Here’s why.

Big data has been the key enabler for procurement’s transition from low to high priority. It is essential to procurement in three ways: spend analysis, supplier management and predictive analytics. Spend analytics organizes and analyzes historical spend data of an organization and addresses its concerns regarding spend visibility, compliance and budget control. Implementing it in the organization whether in the form of technology, hiring experts or simply outsourcing the function, will aid procurement to filter amassed data into actionable insights and provide detailed analysis of spend. This data that has been collected through various sources can support procurement in supplier management and identifying those who are in sync with the organizations objectives and goals. This helps in taking decisions while re-ordering or re-assessing the contracts. The utilization of big data enables accurate calculating and use of predictive analytics to foresee the direction of certain markets and demand for specific resources, and allow procurement to devise strategies appropriately.

The Big SpendEdge Advantage

This collaboration of big data with the procurement function will enable management to make better, informed decisions and mitigate possible risks. Collecting data is one thing; packaging information in a way that enables the stakeholders to make strategic decisions is a completely different thing, wondering how you’ll use available data to maximize benefits? At, SpendEdge, we offer a wide array of services to solve your procurement, spend and supplier issues among several others, with granular insights on sourcing and procurement activities and other spending trends.

 A match made in heaven, you ask? Definitely.