Contract management sees upturn

Despite the financial crisis, the software market associated with procurement, sourcing and contract management is expected to grow by 2%, states Procurement Leaders.

“What we're seeing right now is two conflicting forces at work,” says Andrew Bartels, VP and principal analyst, Forrester Research. “One is obviously the desire of companies to try and save money through the use of technology. The other is that their technology budgets and particularly their capital budgets are facing incredible constraints.”

Unlike in other sectors there have been few high profile casualties as the economic crisis has unfolded, although the likes of SAP and Oracle have taken a huge hit.

Operational efficiency is imperative during a recession. Without question, it's become critical for organisations of all sizes in the past 12 months to eliminate unnecessary costs and increase financial transparency, says IndustryWeek.

Over the coming year, procurement leaders will need to balance the need to further streamline their operations. For many companies, contract management will prove the key that brings together operational efficiency and savings compliance.

Organisations need to consolidate contracts across their enterprise. One of the primary goals of procurement professionals must be to close process gaps, ensuring visibility to all contractual and non-contractual spend.

CIMdata, a global product life cycle management (PLM) consulting and research firm, has released new program reviews for PLM products and services, according to Manufacturing Business Technology.

In separate announcements this month, CIMdata offers reviews of Teamcenter Express, a Siemens PLM software collaborative product definition management (cPDm) solution, and an updated review of Industrial and Financial Systems' (IFS) project-based PLM support program.

The Siemens Teamcenter Express review assesses the entire Teamcenter Express effort, including development, marketing, sales, and the product, Teamcenter Express Version 5. Teamcenter Express is the core product data management component of Siemens PLM Software's Velocity Series - a set of preconfigured design, manufacturing, and data management solutions, CIMdata says.