Forward-Looking Procurement in Today’s Ever-Changing IT Landscape

Business continuity planning, managed inventory, and leveraging distribution warehousing, are all key areas to drive additional value into your procurement model.

Risks of diminished stock in the supply chain plagued the Canadian channel in 2019. Increased costs due to the threat of U.S. Tariff’s, a continuing Intel Chip shortage, and now, manufacturing delays on hardware due to COVID-19 in China, have all brought unique challenges. Due to these external factors hitting on a global scale, it is critical that organizations have a sophisticated procurement partner that can manage change while staying in front of all threats to supply chain stability.

Simply put, businesses are searching for partners that have the expertise and experience in sheltering them from the impact of technology supply constraints.

Forward-thinking businesses have invested in the resources and technology to be proactive instead of reactionary and have insights to inform their clients effectively. The pressure to provide real-time visibility into the channel and to utilize data analytics to forecast adequately is more crucial than ever.

Are you in a leading position in this area, or is it something to focus on in 2020?

As these global factors impact everyone along the supply chain, organizations are always looking for help in avoiding costs wherever possible. The economics around supply and demand are critically important to understand, and innovative strategies around technology procurement that we import from around the world, even more so.

Is your procurement service a high-value segment of your managed service offering?

Procurement has come to the forefront of services that organizations are looking for as they work through transformation strategies and strive to remain relevant with their customers. Business continuity planning, managed inventory, and leveraging distribution warehousing, are all key areas to drive additional value into your procurement model.

Regardless of your location, you cannot escape the economic, political, and human health issues that tend to disrupt global supply chains in an interdependent world. Instead of burying your head in the sand, it is time to work with a procurement partner that continually monitors the threat landscape, builds business and data continuity plans around those threats, and keeps you up to date on not only the risks as they emerge but the strategic response to those threats. By working with a community aligned around this approach, supply chain disruption can be managed proactively.

This article was originally published in Millenium Micro Magazine.

The PDF article is available here.

Ashley Schell

Ash was born and raised under the fiery skies of the Saskatchewan prairies. After working for multiple call centers, he wanted to find an environment that valued free-thinking and autonomy. Taking what he learned about the importance of providing high-level customer service, Ash joined the WBM inside sales team in 2005. The fun yet competitive work environment and great people allowed his career to progress quickly; he moved from inside sales rep to Director of Procurement in 2014.

When Ash isn’t planning the next epic Festivus, he can be found with an old ship trophy in hand for winning his fantasy hockey league, occasionally awarded by WBM’s VP Brett Bailey, while Darth Vader plays fiery bagpipes on a unicycle in the background (yes, that really happened!). All jokes aside, Ash loves to give back to the incredible company culture that drew him to WBM at the start. He often plans fun events for staff and clients and, thanks to his competitive nature, always aims to make each event better than the last.

Outside of work, Ash enjoys spending time with his wife and children doing things like BBQing, playing bocce ball, and simply enjoying their backyard oasis. In the winter, Ash loves to hit the slopes and track his speed on a snowboard – the current time to beat is 75km/hr!

Ash’s role as a leader at WBM is to nurture strong partnerships with vendors, continuously offer value in client relationships, and mentor future leaders in the organization. His ultimate goal is to ensure that a powerful legacy of world-class customer service and company culture lives long into the future.