Successful supply management is built on great supplier relationships. And the key to great relationships is collaboration that allows buyers and suppliers to jointly find solutions that provide long-term value to both, says Dean Arnold, vice president-North America, CombineNet.

"At CombineNet, we think the key is collaborative relationships that are built to not only deliver the best price, but also the best value in terms of goods and services. The best companies that we work with understand that those relationships have to be durable and have to be win/win, when times are good and when times are bad," Arnold says.

CombineNet's procurement solutions enable this collaboration and provide a tool that enables buyers and suppliers to evaluate various alternatives to strategic sourcing problems, he says.

Strategic sourcing should not be seen as a procurement event but as an ongoing process that includes the period between negotiation cycles, Arnold says. "The day you finish the negotiation cycle, everything begins to change. You need the agility to be able to revisit supply decisions when there are network changes or when risk issues arise, such as a supplier coming under financial strain. "We help companies respond to these changes by quickly reallocating contracts or bringing in new suppliers."

When looking for a procurement solution, companies definitely should consider the advantages of Software as a Service, Arnold says. "With SaaS, start-up costs are very low and companies can start at any level and pay as they grow."

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