Contract Cubes For Private Equity Firms
Contract Cubes Offer Powerful Advantages For Private Equity Firms
Successful private equity firms know that time is something you want to have on your side. When you’re looking at supplier contracts across multiple portfolio companies, then all of your procurement and contract management habits—whether time efficient or not—become greatly magnified.
PE firms that are able to compound on good contract management skills (and good software) have a massive competitive advantage over private equity firms that are still stuck in data siloes, spreadsheets, or, worse, completely analog procurement records.
SAP’s “contract cubes” are a game changer for data-centric PE firms because of their straightforward approach to accessing contract data near-instantaneously. Here are just a few of the powerful features of contract cubes that PEs can harness to supercharge the combined power of procurement across all of their portfolio companies:
Use Keywords To Make Better Choices Spanning Your Entire Portfolio
Even disparate portfolio companies often have areas in which they can join forces to negotiate better deals with suppliers or, in some ideal scenarios, offer sourcing amongst themselves. It becomes exponentially easier to get discounts for quantity by combining orders or to find hidden gems amongst suppliers if your database of contracts is centralized and readily searchable. Find the things portcos are buying separately through a simple search and then turn that data into cost savings or even revenue generation while other firms are still flipping through file cabinets.
Get All of The Numbers On The Table
Data transparency and visibility go a long way toward making better choices in both the short and long term. It’s impossible to capitalize on things that you don’t know are happening. With contract cube functions, you can get all of the numbers you need via simple commands. That can include time left until contract renewals, numbers of orders, financial ratios and other history and stats which can be transformed into even greater savings, revenue gen, and better supplier relationships.
The ability to know who your best-value suppliers are is priceless. Contract cubes can help you determine this based on your own metrics of value (and across a variety of metrics). Prioritize these suppliers during contract renewals, bring them additional business, set up data sharing, and make generally better choices that are data-led.
Additionally, use data easily pulled via contract cubes to gain insight into long-term financial trends, even as portcos come and go, so you have a big-picture view that can lead big vision (and big money) moves while competitors are still taking a myopic and segregated approach to procurement, leaving you with a clear advantage.
Handling procurement for a private equity firm is among the most difficult scenarios for even the most seasoned procurement expert who has been working with individual companies. That’s why we at Premikati offer BPO with managed services in procurement catering expressly to private equity firms. We understand how to navigate the complexities of cross-portfolio sourcing and we have the tools and expertise to fully manage this process to the great advantage of the firms who choose to outsource to us. Our specialized knowledge and toolsets bring value to the table that would go entirely unrealized by teams with less pointed expertise.
Reach out to us today to see how we can help you advance your procurement strategy.
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