With today's complex supply chain mazes, telcos need agility – especially when it comes to procurement. The procurement teams are essential to nurturing strong supplier relationships that support business growth and innovation. But teams are also struggling to ensure the integrity of the supply chain, especially with the risks such as cyber threats, geopolitical issues, and environmental, social, and governance (ESG) regulations.

The stakes are high – and telco leaders must ensure their supply chain is resilient and compliant with all regulations to achieve business goals. The question arises: Can leveraging data and analytics help telco procurement teams navigate these challenges effectively?

Decision intelligence emerges as pivotal new data approach

Data plays a crucial role in telcos' digital transformation efforts, as it provides the insights and intelligence to drive decision-making. To accelerate progress and move beyond traditional business intelligence, telcos are well-positioned to embrace the next-generation data practice known as decision intelligence.

This practice is highly flexible and adaptable, and can support various functions such as procurement and supply chain management. By leveraging decision intelligence, procurement teams can establish a more robust data-driven culture and make informed decisions based on connected data.

Decision intelligence uses AI and machine learning to resolve data quality issues, and create a single accurate dynamic view of a supplier. It highlights red flags and risk likelihoods in the context of a telco supplier code of conduct and ethical sourcing policies.

Decision intelligence also provides users with business decision insights that are accurately derived by expertly preparing the data fed into AI models. This practice enhances procurement technology stacks by extracting data from tools like ERPs and SCMs. It supplements these tools instead of replacing them, providing procurement managers with accurate and reliable information for decision-making.

The power of deep supplier collaboration

McKinsey's research indicates that 70% of innovation stems from external sources. Deep supplier collaborations can increase the speed of commercializing innovation by 40%. These findings are crucial for telcos seeking market leadership in an era of rapid technological advancements and evolving customer demands. Deep, strategic collaborations with suppliers not only fuel innovation but also offer a competitive edge for swiftly commercializing new technologies and services.

The transformation in telco procurement, driven by digitization, automation, and sustainability, has created a new breed of suppliers. These suppliers bring novel capabilities and non-traditional engagement models to serve the needs of various teams, such as network operations and engineering, IT, and marketing.

The shift to these new suppliers requires procurement teams to conduct more due diligence to ensure compliance with regulatory standards and corporate values. Decision intelligence is empowering these teams with accurate supplier profiles. A data-enabled guided buying experience is essential to manage these new relationships effectively while mitigating risks.

ESG risks demand procurement transformation

With global marketplace dynamics becoming more fluid, telcos face new ESG risks and the constant threat of business disruptions. Transforming procurement processes to build resilient, sustainable supply chains is crucial. Organizations must also prioritize ESG considerations and develop robust risk management frameworks to protect operations against disruptions, and align supply chain practices with global sustainability goals.

Traditional risk reporting tools often fall short in capturing the full spectrum of these risks, requiring sophisticated supplier evaluation and risk management methods. Decision intelligence plays a transformative role through investigative and predictive analytics to view these complexities in a simplified way.

Decision intelligence enables procurement transformation

Decision intelligence's foundation in AI and machine learning is pivotal in solving today's procurement challenges. It employs techniques like entity resolution to ensure data accuracy and integrates diverse data points from internal and external sources, creating a single, trusted, and reusable resource. With the help of transparent AI models, decision intelligence generates contextual insights that enable procurement teams to make informed and explainable decisions, ensuring compliance and mitigating risks.

By embracing decision intelligence, telcos can navigate the complexities of the supplier landscape, mitigate a wide range of risks, and accelerate innovation – supporting sustainable growth and success in the digital age.