This article is the extended version of my LinkedIn post.
Beyond Cost: Procurement as a Strategic Enabler
When people hear the word “procurement,” many still think of it as a cost-control function—negotiating prices, issuing POs, and ensuring compliance with financial policies. But in IT infrastructure operations, procurement is far more than that.
A well-functioning procurement team can either accelerate or delay critical infrastructure programs. When rules change too frequently, or approval processes drag on, business continuity is at risk. Projects stall, resilience suffers, and IT is left unable to deliver on its mandate.
On the other hand, procurement done right becomes a strategic enabler. It ensures that vendors are not just cheap, but reliable, accountable, and aligned with the organization’s goals.
The Pitfalls of “Lowest Cost Wins”
I’ve seen organizations where procurement celebrated securing the lowest possible vendor price—only for operations to suffer from fragile SLAs, delayed deliveries, or lack of proper support.
In infrastructure, this is dangerous. IT operations thrive on predictability. A few thousand dollars saved upfront can cost millions in downtime later. Stability, resilience, and on-time delivery matter far more than squeezing every cent out of the negotiation.
As one CIO once told me: “We don’t need the cheapest vendor—we need the one who won’t disappear when the system goes down at 2 AM.”
Procurement in the Bigger Picture of Governance
Strategic procurement isn’t just about price or paperwork. It’s about risk management, accountability, and quality of service.
Key elements include:
- Vendor accountability. Contracts must clearly define consequences for non-performance, not just list SLAs on paper.
- Compliance awareness. Procurement must consider company-wide risks, data sovereignty, and regulatory requirements—not only internal KPIs.
- Balanced evaluation. Technical quality, delivery capability, and financial health should weigh as much as cost in vendor selection.
In this way, procurement becomes a governance partner, not just an administrative gatekeeper.
Stories from the Field
In one telco project, procurement delays on critical hardware approvals meant IT teams were unable to deploy resilience upgrades before a seasonal traffic spike. When an outage occurred, the impact was severe—and the postmortem traced part of the issue to slow procurement cycles.
In another case, procurement partnered early with IT to pre-negotiate framework agreements with key vendors. When urgent capacity was needed, approvals were lightning-fast, costs were competitive, and delivery was assured. The difference wasn’t the technology—it was procurement maturity.
Closing Reflection
Procurement may not always sit in the spotlight of IT transformation, but its role is foundational. Done poorly, it creates bottlenecks and risks. Done well, it accelerates modernization, strengthens resilience, and ensures IT delivers what the business truly needs.
At its heart, procurement is not about charity or about extracting every last discount. It is about enabling IT to provide secure, scalable, and reliable infrastructure services that align with long-term business goals.
So the next time you think of IT resilience, don’t just look at servers, networks, or cloud platforms—look at procurement. Because without their partnership, even the best infrastructure strategy may never get off the ground.
📑 References: Monczka, R., et al. (2015). Purchasing and Supply Chain Management; Handfield, R. & Nichols, E. (2020). Supply Chain Redesign; Gartner (2023). Best Practices in IT Vendor Management and Procurement.
