Can Procurement Go 3D?

The Wall Street Journal Post headline reads: “Tech Companies Want to Make Holograms Part of Routine Office Life” with the accompanying tagline “The technology is closer to becoming an everyday reality.”

According to the article, companies like Google and WeWork are close to launching remote conferencing capabilities by creating a more interactive, personal, three-dimensional experience for employees. Citing “Zoom fatigue” as one of the primary reasons for the initiative, there is a general belief that “holograms and related technology will soon become common in conference rooms all over the world.”

While it would be easy to debate how soon such technology would become a viable option for universal adoption, the focus of this article is not on when it will happen but after it happens. In other words, if procurement professionals could holographically transport themselves anywhere in the world, would it help or hinder our ability to do our jobs?

In today’s article, we try to answer that question.

The Big Picture

Before we talk about “holograming” procurement—and yes, we just made up the word holograming, how viable is the technology from a general business standpoint?

While there are certainly naysayers, a quick scan of one poll suggests that more people are excited about it and the possibilities the technology presents (55%) than those who are not (17%). In rounding out the numbers, 25% said maybe, but that they needed to learn more.

So, from a conceptual standpoint, the answer appears to be yes. But what about from a practical perspective?

According to Gartner analyst Kanishka Chauhan, complexity and “time-consuming logistics” aside, workplace holograms are “best suited for situations such as recorded events, trainings or seminars.”

Within this limited scope, our thinking is that in-person procurement conferences are a natural venue. Consider the success of the recent Forge Digital Futures conference (and the ones before it).

Now imagine any one of our amazing speakers talking to you in 3D, or for that matter delivering a training or seminar session.

You may think this technology is excellent for these venues, but what about traditional in-person meetings with a supplier to do an assessment or negotiate a contract?

Isn’t meeting in the real world as opposed to being a virtual presence better or more productive?

Belief Versus Reality

Do you remember people’s reactions to the first ATMs? Even though some readily embraced their convenience, others were reluctant to hand over their cash to “a machine.”?

Fast forward to the present day, and most people cannot remember the last time they went into a bank to do a transaction with a teller. If we are completely honest here, with online banking, when was the last time you used an ATM?

The point is that when it comes to technological advancement, reality trumps long-held beliefs. Take negotiations. According to Tim Cummins, during in-person negotiations, people often lie about “what they can do, by when, and for how much.”

Cummins isn’t alone in his assessment.?

According to The Master Negotiator Greg Williams, “Everybody lies when negotiating, for one reason or another. If you say you don’t lie, you’re lying!”

Within the above context, will “going” 3D hurt your ability to negotiate? But, more importantly, will it improve the transparency and integrity of the negotiation process?

The Bigger Takeaway

As you consider the holograming of procurement—or, for that matter, the emergence of any technological advancement—maybe the focus shouldn’t be on the technology. Maybe our attention should be on the current state of the process it is designed to automate.

In other words, and besides having a proactively open mind, we should focus as much, if not more, on the existing foundation on which we are building our innovation, i.e., digital strategy.

If we don’t—well, the term garbage in— garbage out comes to mind.