Procurement Came to Play and Is Now Here to Stay: SAP Spend Connect Live 2023

Procurement Came to Play and Is Now Here to Stay: SAP Spend Connect Live 2023

This IDC Market Note provides insights into SAP's Spend Connect Live event, held October 9–11, in Vienna, Austria. The event marked a significant moment for SAP's vision of spend management, featured notable product announcements, and presented a cohesive strategy across four key areas within the Intelligent Spend and Business Network (ISBN): Procurement (Ariba), External Workforce (Fieldglass), Travel and Expense (Concur), and the SAP Business Network. This event emphasized the evolving role of procurement, shifting from the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic to a renewed focus on cost containment, risk management, and talent management.Muhammad Alam, SAP's president and chief product officer of SAP Intelligent Spend and Business Network, highlighted the importance of guided decision support tools. He also set a bold vision for SAP's user experience, anticipating that UX would be a pivotal differentiator in the near future. The event also showcased SAP's commitment to AI, particularly generative AI, with the introduction of Joule, a tool designed to provide contextualized insights and improve business outcomes.IDC views SAP's Spend Connect Live 2023 positively, acknowledging the company's clear and unified approach to spend management. SAP Spend Connect Live 2023 also highlighted potential challenges in execution, particularly related to enhancing user experience and integrating non-SAP data into the Spend Control Tower for optimal intelligent decision support.

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