RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, N.C., July 17, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Andrew Bartolini, a globally recognized expert in sourcing and procurement, and the Founder and Chief Research Officer of research advisory firm Ardent Partners, identifies five of the most innovative technologies that will have a profound impact on spend management, on the current edition of JAGGAER’s InsideSpend webinar and podcast series. Bartolini’s list includes Artificial Intelligence, Advanced Analytics for Big Data, Machine Learning, Robotic Process Automation (RPA) and Blockchain Distributed Ledgers.

Bartolini cautions that some these terms are widely thrown around the marketplace and are misunderstood. For example, “Artificial Intelligence is not Machine Learning, not natural language processing or RPA. AI functions like the human mind, without human intervention. It independently mimics and augments human-driven business processes.”

Technology has played a big part in driving procurement forward for the past 20 years, in turn generating  a phenomenal amount of data. Bartolini feels that this has created a crisis in many procurement organizations today, driving a need to analyze this data through Advanced Analytics.

“Blockchain has captured the attention of the investment and IT worlds and should capture the attention of the Procurement world. It ultimately operates as a system of record for capturing a chain of interactions; marrying the physical with the digital supply chain,” explains Bartolini.

Bartolini discusses how to prioritize and assess these innovations in terms of applying them to an organization, and reviews a hierarchical assessment of the opportunities created by each. “I think the greatest opportunity lies in Advanced Analytics and Big Data, and the large amount of information being captured by systems today. It’s a big challenge, and I’d liken it to raw crude oil in the ground. To turn it into value you need to understand where to look and how to think about the data, extract it and turn it into something of value.”

Ardent Partners is a research and advisory firm focused on defining and advancing the supply management strategies, processes and technologies that drive business value and accelerate organizational transformation within the enterprise.

A link to the webinar can be found here.

About JAGGAER: Global Indirect and Direct Spend Management Solutions   JAGGAER is the world’s largest independent spend management company, with over 1,850 customers connected to a network of 3.7 million suppliers in 70 countries, served by offices located in North America, Latin America, throughout Europe, the United Kingdom, Australia, Asia, and the Middle East. JAGGAER offers complete SaaS based indirect and direct eProcurement solutions with advanced spend analytics, complex sourcing, supplier management, contract lifecycle management, savings tracking, and intelligent workflow capabilities. We have pioneered spend solutions for over two decades and continue to lead the innovation curve by listening to customers and analyzing the market. Our solutions suites are trusted by the world’s largest education, manufacturing, health care, retail, consumer package goods, logistics, construction, utilities companies and public service organizations. Additionally, JAGGAER holds 38 patents–more than any other spend management company.  www.JAGGAER.com

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