Dewey defeats Truman and Client Advisor Relationships to be Replaced by Reverse Auctions
June 23, 2010 3:50 am
Yesterday, I interviewed Jon Stevens who leads consulting for Ariba. www.ariba.com Smart guy. Ariba provides “on-demand” procurement solutions for businesses. In other words, they provide an online platform for companies to automate and control their spending on goods and services. Ariba’s web-based tools allow companies to procure professional services online – sometimes in a reverse auction environment. The Company also hosts www.aribadiscovery.com which is a buyer-seller marketplace site where suppliers can make themselves known to buyers. From an brainpower-intensive, professional services firm perspective, it is hard to see why a Firm would want to be present on Ariba Discovery unless they are comfortable being considered commodity vendors. Click down into the professional services or creative services supplier links and the specific professional disciplines are listed under the header of “commodities.” Will professional services firms really be commoditized – turned into a “vendor” rather than an advisor – in the face of online reverse auctions and other automated procurement trends? I don’t think so. The Great Recession has definitely accelerated the trend of companies involving procurement staffers and online systems for “sourcing” professional services at the time of an identified need. And, professional firms need to know how to play the online procurement game. However, deep and genuine and substantive content-rich relationships between professionals and prospective clients will forever influence the choice of advisors when the engagement matters most to a company. And, the best and smartest firms and professionals will continue to prove that there’s nothing commodity about what they do and how they do it. But don’t take my word for it…listen to this conversation with Jon Stevens and let me know what you think.
