SCDigest Editorial Staff

SCDigest Says:

These type of rankings should be taken as only one source of data in finding and selecting procurement outsourcing partners. What Do You Say? Click Here to Send Us Your Comments Click Here to See Reader Feedback

Who are the leading providers in the rapidly growing procurement outsourcing space?

Each year, Scott Wilson and Doug Brown of the Brown-Wilson Group undertake a large global survey of several thousands procurement and supply chain executives to gain insight into procurement outsourcing trends and vendor evaluations. Recently, we summarized the keys trends discussed in this year’s report. (See Procurement Outsourcing to Enjoy Rapid Growth, 2008 Black Book of Outsourcing Authors Say.) Again this year, by special arrangement, Wilson and Brown have made a summary of the report available exclusively to SCDigest readers. To download this summary report, go here: 2008 Black Book of Outsourcing.

This week, we look at the vendor rating section of the report. The survey asked respondents to rank vendors in each of the four main segments it defines for procurement outsourcing services:

• Strategic Sourcing & Supply Chain Management (Source-to-Pay)
• Purchasing/Buying Services & Transaction Management
• Logistics & Category Management
• Contract and Spend Management

Combining the individual vendor ratings from survey respondents across each of those four segments, the Black Book survey puts ICG Commerce at the top of the list. The rest of the top five are:

(2) XChanging

(3) Accenture

(4) SDE Business Partnering

(5) Global eProcure

(Sourcing and Procurement Article - Continued Below)

The complete list of the top 20 vendors is shown below, based on an aggregate of respondent rankings on 18 different attributes for each vendor. A “comprehensive” vendor is defined as one that provides capabilities in each of the four procurement outsourcing vendors.

Top Comprehensive Procurement Outsourcing Vendors

Source: 2008 Black Book of Procurement Outsourcing

The report also summarizes which vendors finished number 1 in each of those individual 18 attributes, as shown in the chart below:

Top Procurement Outsourcing Vendors by Individual Rating Attribute

Source: 2008 Black Book of Procurement Outsourcing

Obviously, overall leader ICG Commerce dominated the individual criteria as well, being ranked in the top spot in 11 of the 18 categories.

As always, these type of rankings should be taken as only one source of data in finding and selecting procurement outsourcing partners. They are opinions only, and often do not reflect strengths required to meet a specific company's needs or the needs of specific industry segments.

What’s your take on the Black Book ratings? Are such ratings useful? What are the dangers of relying on these types of simple lists? Let us know your thoughts at the Feedback button below.