Watch: How Contract Intelligence Can Reduce Risk for Procurement

Risk management has shot to the top of business agendas for today's enterprises, with procurement playing a central role in successfully navigating the challenges presented by regulatory, economic, and supply-chain uncertainty. 

Recently, Gisela Kruesch, Senior Manager and Content Strategist at Icertis, sat down with Shannon Kirk, Director of Product Management at Icertis, to discuss how procurement leaders can reduce contract risk with real-time contract data. 

Reflecting on global business today, Shannon observes that this is an exciting time to be a procurement professional—especially given the past three years. 

The pandemic has changed the way businesses around the world operate. Industries, especially those in healthcare and manufacturing, are dealing with financial disruptions and increasing risk, rapidly changing regulations, and challenges in simply getting goods back and forth. And a strong recovery depends on the ability of data-driven leaders to manage information and risks to their supply chain in real-time. It is critical to the success of businesses who today almost by default operate around the world. 

This is where procurement, using contract intelligence, fills the gap by using the platform’s ability to access information that’s often buried deep within contracts. These insights span the company’s supply base, moving up and down their supply chain and sub-tiers. 

As Shannon explains, real-time data guides strategic decisions, reduces financial and contractual risks, helps diversify supply chains, and ensures compliance with regulations. More advanced capabilities like predictive analytics can help procurement highlight the possible impact of changing processes and different decisions as they happen—such as the impact of weather, port delays, geopolitical events, labor stoppages, and civil unrest.