Redefining Savings: SievoFriends Helsinki 2023 Recap

The global procurement community challenged the status quo by Redefining Savings at Sievo’s annual customer event SievoFriends.

SievoFriends is our yearly customer event hosted in Helsinki and Chicago, where we mingle, share successes, and discuss the newest opportunities in procurement. It brings together Sievo clients and partners to discuss the pressing issues in procurement today, as well as discuss new developments in the procurement analytics landscape.

This year marked 15 years of SievoFriends Helsinki. As Sievo turns 20 this year, we celebrate our amazing customers: we couldn’t have done it without you!

Want a taste of the amazing talks seen on stage? Watch SievoFriends 2023 on-demand!

This year’s 2-day agenda included:

• Keynote talks from Mark Perera (Procurement Thought Leader, Co-Author of Procurement with Purpose) and Anna Konoplianikova (Head Of Procurement and Finance​ At Chalhoub Group)
• Sievo customer stories from Sanofi, Metso, and Danone
• Partner presentations from Beroe and Accenture
• Panel discussion on “How to Sell Procurement Data’s Value to Stakeholders”
• Sievo product updates and workshops
• And lots of fun!

Redefining Savings

Image: Mark Perera giving Keynote talk: Sustainable Procurement Uncovered

The theme of the event was “Redefining Savings.” Savings is no longer only about cutting costs. We must save the bottom line while saving the planet, save profitability and save jobs, and forecast savings while saving the market.

Procurement has faced many challenges over the last couple of years. In the wake of the Global Pandemic, carbon regulation, the recession in the tech industry, and the war in Ukraine all put pressure on procurement to adapt.

Savings as defined as “going under budget” has been procurement’s main KPI since its inception, but it’s time to change that. In today’s world, the value procurement can bring goes far beyond this simple understanding.

Image: Anna Konoplianikova (Group Head of Procurement and Finance, Chalhoub Group) giving Keynote Talk

Anna Konoplianikova in her talk Procurement Loves Finance – In Practice showed us that we still have work to do on creating a common purpose with finance. Conversations about what are “real” savings are still happening today, even in highly mature organizations.

Tomi Kommeri (VP Procurement at Metso) urged us to change the “brand” of procurement from being a savings-generating function only. He said, “the beauty of savings is it can be one number.” But should we have a different north star?

Procurement is working on far more objectives, such as building internal relationships and compliance. So how can we develop a KPI that is and generic and powerful as savings?

Vel Dhinagaravel (Founder & CEO at Beroe) questioned the foundational KPI of procurement:

“What is procurement’s equivalent of market share? You talk about savings, that’s fine, savings against budget, against last year’s budget, but that’s measuring you today vs. last year. But tell me how you are doing against the competition – that’s the question that we’re still not able to answer.”

Nobody seems to have a perfect answer to this provocative ask, but the conversation is lively. Many speakers pointed out that thinking from the stakeholders’ perspective and aligning procurement with strategic business initiatives is how to start.

Product updates, Workshops and More!

CEO and Co-founder of Sievo Sammeli Sammalkorpi gave an inspiring update on the business. The emphasis was on how analytics can support the changing procurement landscape. 

Image: Sammeli (CEO and Co-founder) shares Business Update

“It’s only the actions through analytics that drive business value,” Said Sammeli. He highlighted the ability to share insights and drive actions with suppliers. 

JP Teppala, Chief Customer Officer at Sievo, offered even more details on how Sievo can help redefine savings through analytics. We saw a sneak peek into how automated insights will close the data-to-action gap.

Image: Product Workshop at SievoFriends Helsinki 2023

Attendees also took time to get closer to Sievo Solution areas with Product workshops and break-out groups. 

During these collaborative sessions, there were in-depth product updates, feedback discussions, and knowledge sharing which empowered Sievo users with new info. 

In combination with customer success stories from Sanofi, Metso, and Danone, guests left with excitement about the possibilities of procurement analytics and innovation!

Relive SievoFriends Helsinki

The recordings of speaker sessions are available for free to view. Access SievoFriends on-demand from this page.

Interested in attending SievoFriends Chicago or Helsinki? Please contact your Sievo representative! 

See you next year!

Image: Jaxu at the photo corner