“State of Procurement in Higher Education" Report Available to Decision-Makers

Chicago, IL - March 21, 2017:   Only 36% of procurement staff at American universities and colleges are very confident that they will achieve their savings target this year, according to an extensive survey of procurement professionals at higher education institutions by Rosslyn Data Technologies. 

The ground breaking report is the most comprehensive research into the state of procurement at universities and colleges in the United States.  It sets out the major trends impacting higher education and the key issues likely to influence the future success and transformation of procurement departments at universities and colleges as schools evolve in an era of self-reliance, with less revenue from public sources than before.

“Procurement is an unsung hero in higher education with the means to deliver significant commercial value that lasts generations,” said Lance Mercereau, Chief Marketing Officer, Rosslyn Data Technologies. “The unique research into higher education procurement reveals insight that will help leadership teams determine the efficacy of their organizations, and prepare and plan the next chapter in their transformation to support the strategic objectives of their institutions.”

Results of the 72-school survey, undertaken in January-March 2017, include:

• The top three strategic priorities of institutions over the next three years are enhancing the student experience, improving operational efficiencies and reducing costs
• The number one strategic focus of procurement in the next 18 months is improving operational efficiencies according to 32% of respondents
• 51% of procurement leaders will achieve their strategic goals by using data and analytics though 38% said they don’t have the right data to make informed decisions
• The adoption of analytics isn’t widespread in higher education procurement departments, with 38% of survey takers remarking that they rely on Excel to analyze data
• When asked how important is cost reduction, 66% said it was a “strong priority” while 30% said it was “somewhat of a priority”
• 55% of procurement leaders have a savings target this year between $500,000 and $5 million, while 26% don’t know what is their department’s target

"Rosslyn Data Technologies has provided a valuable service in canvassing the views of so many procurement professionals across higher education.  The report shines useful insight, empowering senior staff with a better understanding of how their procurement departments are organized and performing in comparison to peers," said Jim Newman, Director of Strategic Procurement, University of Maryland at College Park.

Rosslyn Data Technologies has been working with higher education leaders for 10 years, providing integrated cloud-based self-service data preparation, analytics and benchmark to nearly 100 schools including three state university systems to support better cost, compliance and risk management capabilities.