Technology and analytics high priorities for chief procurement officers in 2014 - Deloitte

Seven out of 10 CPOs plan 'some' or 'heavy' investment in technology over the next year

Technology and analytics are high priorities for chief procurement officers (CPOs) over the next year, according to a study by professional services firm Deloitte.

Deloitte surveyed 180 CPOs from 17 different countries across the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Asia and Australasia in an attempt to track key business indicators and find out their perceptions of financial prospects, plans and expectations for 2014.

Seven out of 10 respondents said that they planned some or heavy investment in technology over the next year.

"With recent economic performance so positive, it is perhaps no surprise that procurement is expecting to be given further permission to invest, especially in tools with the promise of unlocking more value," the report said.

"According to this year's results we can expect to see a re-prioritisation of data analytics in 2014," it added.

Analytics was the most popular area of CPO investment in 2011 and Deloitte believes that the change in nature of analytics solutions since then may have encouraged CPOs to invest in new products. It said that this will signal a shift from hindsight to insight and foresight, which will be a key enabler of better business partnering.

In the survey, 75 per cent of respondents stated that their teams' analytical capabilities were currently based on retrospective data.

"Whilst still the norm for most, it has been encouraging to see the rise of more live and even predictive analytics, creating insight and modelling capabilities that can underpin a much broader and valuable dialogue with the business," Deloitte said.

"Procurement will be enabled to make a meaningful contribution to decision making, whether that is the identification of strategic opportunities, earlier identification of risks, or more proactive management of suppliers," it continued.

Data quality remains the key barrier to generating actionable insights, with 67 per cent of respondents believing it was an issue, while availability of data (36 per cent) and skills and capability of personnel (33 per cent) were also noted as barriers to effective use of analytics.

Under two-thirds (58 per cent) of respondents envisaged some analytics investment in the next 12 months, while 17 per cent said they would like to invest but will not over the next 12 months.

Meanwhile, 54 per cent of respondents indicated that they were currently investing in technology to improve the user experience, with investment most likely in self-service portals, online e-commerce and mobile technologies.