Supplier Risk Management

The Pragmatic Edge: Global Impact

The next chapter of Everest Group Engage is coming to London, March 31 – April 1, 2025. Building on the momentum of the 2024 event, Everest Group Engage 2025 — London will dive deeper into The Pragmatic Edge: Global Impact—exploring how practical strategies can drive sustainable growth in a complex, interconnected world.

This 1.5-day event will connect executives from GBS, sourcing, vendor management, IT services, global locations, and next-gen technology with top experts and thought leaders to co-create solutions for future challenges. With hands-on workshops, solution-focused discussions, and immersive networking, attendees will leave equipped to make confident, data-driven decisions and transform their organizations.

Mark your calendars now! London awaits—offering you the opportunity to sharpen your pragmatic edge and achieve global impact.

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Strategic Relationships

Service Delivery Model

Service Delivery Model

Year Two of Engage Dallas – Bigger, Better, Brighter

We’re back in Dallas from September 8 to 10, 2025, for the newest chapter of Everest Group Engage. Building on the momentum of the inaugural event, Everest Group Engage 2025 — Dallas will help attendees uncover specific areas for business performance improvement contextualized to their specific needs – uncovering how practical strategies can drive sustainable growth in today’s constantly changing, interconnected world.

This 2.5-day event will connect executives from GBS, sourcing, vendor management, IT services, global locations, and next-gen technology with top experts and thought leaders to innovate their people, processes, technology, and operations with confidence and clear sightlines on impact. With hands-on workshops, solution-focused discussions, and immersive networking, attendees will leave equipped to make confident, data-driven decisions and transform their organizations.

Mark your calendars now! Dallas awaits—offering you the opportunity to sharpen your pragmatic edge and achieve global impact.

The event website and registration will launch soon. Sign up for the mailing list to stay informed.

Join Everest Group experts Amy Fong, Partner, and Amit Lad, Senior Analyst, for an engaging LinkedIn Live session on how emerging technologies such as generative AI and agentic AI are transforming procurement operations.

Procurement teams embracing AI-driven and automated solutions are unlocking unprecedented efficiency, smarter decision-making, and superior outcomes. For procurement leaders, adopting these innovative tools is no longer optional—it’s essential to stay ahead and deliver strategic value.

In this session, you’ll gain valuable insights into practical AI and automation use cases across key procurement activities, including procurement intake and orchestration, supplier management, and sourcing. Discover how procurement leaders are leveraging these cutting-edge technologies to enhance operations, and use our research-led insights to achieve a competitive edge.

During this in-depth LinkedIn Live, we’ll discuss:

What are the practical use cases of AI across the source-to-pay value chain?
What are procurement intake and orchestration tools, and how does AI enhance their capabilities?
How can organizations build a strong business case for adopting AI-enabled procurement technologies?

Register now for the LinkedIn Live event!

As organizations embrace cloud-first operations, they often commit to substantial spending on cloud platforms to gain discounts. But, to their dismay, they end up with a significant portion of these commitments being unused.

By acquiring solutions through the marketplaces offered by cloud providers Information Technology (IT) procurement leaders can better utilize spend commitments.

Our survey of procurement professionals reveals that, along with maximizing the value of unused spend commitments, cloud marketplaces are increasingly favored as a sourcing and purchasing channel for their ability to streamline acquisition and accelerate time-to-market.

To explore the findings from our research, including the benefits and challenges of using cloud marketplaces, continue reading.

Reach out to discuss this topic in depth.

In today’s rapidly evolving business landscape, staying competitive and agile requires embracing transformative technologies. At the forefront of this evolution are cloud marketplace platforms like AWS Marketplace, Microsoft Azure Marketplace, and Google Cloud Marketplace.

These platforms are revolutionizing IT procurement by providing a seamless way for organizations to discover, purchase, deploy, and manage software, Software as a Service (SaaS) solution, and related services.

To better understand the impact of cloud marketplaces, we surveyed IT procurement professionals across industries.

This blog explores the survey results, shining a light on the key features, benefits, challenges, and opportunities these platforms present for IT procurement leaders.

IT procurement priorities: Value, Visibility, Velocity 

Technology is evolving quickly, and spending is typically driven by the Chief Technology Officer (CTO) / Chief Information Officer (CIO) at an organization. Even the most aligned sourcing and category managers may struggle to keep up with the technical needs and the pace of change of the business in the modern age.

Most of the time, procurement and IT want the same thing – the best solution as fast as possible, which also offers the best value!

Procurement’s traditional tools and ways of working don’t always optimize for the pace of change and need for visibility. However, cloud contracts and marketplace purchases are one place where IT and Sourcing can align to jointly drive their common goals.

Reimagining procurement with cloud marketplaces

Cloud marketplaces are transforming IT procurement into an intuitive, centralized experience, where buyers can access pre-vetted products and services. Cloud marketplaces enable buyers to discover, evaluate, test, and purchase software, SaaS solutions, and related services.

They also provide tools to track and manage these purchases, offering complete visibility into spending. By aligning with cloud strategies, these platforms help procurement leaders optimize their cloud spending commitments.

Our latest survey revealed the most preferred cloud marketplace platforms in order of popularity:

1. AWS Marketplace
2. Microsoft Azure Marketplace
3. Google Cloud Marketplace

Key features of cloud marketplaces

1. Comprehensive security and compliance
   These platforms prioritize security, implementing robust measures to protect transactions and personal information. Most listed products adhere to security best practices and compliance standards, ensuring a trusted procurement environment. Typical new supplier onboarding boxes may already be checked by marketplace criteria
   
2. Seamless integration
   Solutions available on marketplaces are designed for effortless integration with cloud services, enabling buyers to create cohesive, scalable systems. Integration with back-office systems further streamlines governance
   
3. Private offers for tailored solutions
   Private offers allow customized pricing and terms through direct negotiations between buyers and third-party providers. This flexibility is ideal for the unique requirements and complex agreements required by large enterprises
   
4. User-friendly design
   Cloud marketplaces provide ease of use, enabling buyers to discover and evaluate solutions quickly, aided by peer reviews, search functionality, and detailed product descriptions. A better experience for IT users means increased velocity for sourcing decisions
   
5. Diverse solution offerings
   From SaaS applications to infrastructure tools, marketplaces cater to a wide range of business needs such as standardized terms on offer and contract visibility

Benefits of cloud marketplaces for IT procurement professionals

Cloud marketplaces present several transformative benefits that align with the goals of modern IT procurement. Following are the top 3 benefits highlighted by procurement leaders in our survey:

1. Simplified and streamlined procurement processes
   A significant 57% of procurement professionals highlighted the ease of buying and deploying software as a major advantage of cloud marketplaces. These platforms consolidate procurement steps, from product/service discovery to billing, enabling a seamless purchasing experience. They also offer flexible billing options including pay-as-you-go, monthly, annual, or custom pricing that empower procurement leaders to manage their budgets effectively.
   An equal number of survey respondents also noted that cloud marketplaces accelerate the acquisition and deployment process, resulting in reduced time-to-market. This agility can prove to be vital for businesses.
   
2. Competitive pricing
   With transparent pricing and the availability of volume discounts, 43% of procurement leaders reported improved cost savings as a key benefit of using cloud marketplaces. These features empower businesses to optimize their spending and achieve better value for money.
   
3. Enhanced risk management
   Availability of pre-vetted suppliers and solutions on these marketplaces contributed to 43% of users feeling confident about risk mitigation. This level of assurance is particularly important for industries with stringent compliance requirements.

Challenges of adopting cloud marketplaces 

While the benefits are clear, leveraging cloud marketplaces is not without its challenges. 43% of the survey respondents stated that assessing suppliers through cloud marketplaces can be challenging due to limited visibility into detailed supplier performance metrics while 29% of them cited the lack of tailor-made solution options as a limitation, which may deter businesses with highly specific requirements.

While security measures taken by these cloud marketplaces are robust, 29% of the respondents are still cautious about the risks of handling sensitive data through third-party platforms. High transaction fees were also highlighted as a barrier to use these marketplaces by the survey respondents, especially for small and mid-sized (SMEs) businesses that need cost-efficient solutions.

Navigating the future of cloud marketplaces

Navigating the future of cloud marketplaces

Cloud marketplaces are redefining IT procurement, enabling organizations to operate with unprecedented agility, transparency, and efficiency. To unlock their full potential, procurement leaders should:

• Align procurement strategies with cloud marketplace capabilities to optimize committed spend and vendor relationships
  
• Engage in private offers for tailored agreements that maximize value
  
• Leverage training programs to equip teams with the skills to navigate marketplaces effectively

As businesses increasingly adopt cloud-native strategies, marketplaces will play an integral role in IT procurement operations, shaping the future of business success.

You can also view our virtual event, wherein our experts had a free-flowing discussion about the priorities of CPOs for 2025: 2025 CPO Objectives: Facing Challenges, Achieving Business Goals, and Future Aspirations

To discuss about how you can leverage cloud marketplaces for your IT procurement, please reach out to amy.fong@everestgrp.com, bhanushee.Malhotra@everestgrp.com, and amit.lad@everestgrp.com.

As sourcing and VMO leaders in the banking, financial services, and insurance (BFSI) sectors look ahead to the coming year, many are reimagining their approach to tech and ops sourcing to improve efficiency and strategic value.

We hosted this practitioner-only session, guided by Everest Group analysts,  exploring forward-thinking tech and ops priorities in BFSI, such as cost, AI adoption, and challenges ahead. This flexible forum is a prime opportunity to connect with the experts, raise questions, and gain valuable perspectives from your peers.

In this session, participants discussed how 2024 is wrapping up and their plans for 2025.

While the discussion is always guided by participant interests, expect to learn:

• What cost savings targets are set for next year
• How participants are factoring in the benefits and costs of AI
• How to plan for investment budgets and expected challenges

 Who attended? 

• Sourcing leaders from BFSI
• Category managers
• Vendor managers
• BFSI Tech and ops leaders (open to buy side only)

WATCH THE WEBINAR ON-DEMAND

As global organizations face ongoing challenges like supply chain disruptions and price volatility, procurement functions are becoming more of an asset than ever. Chief Procurement Officers (CPOs) remain focused on cost savings, managing risk, and achieving high business user satisfaction while tackling challenges posed by inflation, regulatory requirements, and legacy systems.

Watch our experts as they explored the top priorities of CPOs, the current state of procurement functions, and future aspirations. We provided insights into how procurement leaders are addressing challenges and aligning strategies to drive stronger business outcomes.

This session offered procurement professionals the opportunity to compare their internal initiatives with industry trends and plan for future developments that align with the market.

What questions did the webinar answer?

• What challenges does the procurement function currently face
• Which outcomes are top priorities for the procurement function
• What is the typical maturity of vendor/supplier management processes within organizations?

Who should attend?

• Chief procurement Officers (CPO)
• Procurement category managers
• Global sourcing managers
• Supplier relationship managers
• Procurement managers
• Supplier management leaders
• Procurement outsourcing (PO) service providers / leaders
• Tech providers

Procurement

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