Last Week’s ProcureCon Indirect 2010 in Charolotte, NC had quite a few highlights. One major highlight–although unrelated to Procurement–was that it snowed in a part of the States known for its mild weather. That was big news and confounding to many local stores that closed down due the elements. (Meanwhile, the Chicago natives were laughing and shaking their heads at what they deemed “flurries”.) In terms of key topics, panel discussions covered a range of subjects, but a few--like organizational structure and building credibility with senior executive teams, were especially noteworthy. But the biggest highlight of all may have been Rob Bernshteyn’s keynote “The Next Generation of Spend Mangement”.

Those of us around the Coupa offices already know how convincing and entertaining Rob Bernshteyn, Coupa’s CEO, can be. But for the unsuspecting souls who witnessed his “Journey Through Time” keynote at the convention last week, Rob’s refreshingly un-corporate approach to presenting the past, present, and future of Spend Management was a real eye-opener. During the presentation, there were a few “oh no he didn’t” moments, and even more nodding heads. The feedback was fantastic, with many attendees calling Rob’s presentation “the best presentation at the entire conference”.

(SPOILER ALERT!) Here’s a brief synopsis of the presentation for those of you who like to read the end of the book first.

INTRO: Rob opens with the question: How can you spend smarter and save money? He answers his own question by noting that it’s impossible to answer that without thinking of the times we’re in.

PAST: This intro allows him to dive into his “Journey through Time”. He speaks to the technology, the people, and the pop culture, and the current events from post World War II all the way up to the 90’s. He clicks through images of the young Rolling Stones, gas guzzling cars, and land line phones. He points out that Procurement was just starting, and America’s economy was booming. It was kind of all administrative and less strategic. Key quote: “We had a seat a table, but it wasn’t the table we wanted to be at…We were a diamond in the rough.”

TODAY: Where are we now? Well, we may still be listening to the Rolling Stones, but they’re older now. The cars? They’re built for fuel economy. And the phones are as mobile as we are. This type of change is just as apparent in the Procurement world. Technology has changed, and with it comes something called SaaS. SaaS is a reaction to the enterprise software problems of the 90’s, where you spent millions and got little. Now with Cloud-based SaaS software, employees can contribute to the bottom line, and there is visibility into the budget that was never there before. There is super fast deployment and easy integration with legacy ERP systems. And all this is happening on the web so you can transpose information within the company with information on suppliers outside the company. These systems are highly flexible, social, and insightful. Key Quote: “Now Procurement has a seat at a table, and the right table. You have a chance to partner with the CFO’s and to not only be the diamond in the rough, but the jewel.”

FUTURE: What will happen in the future? Rob shows images of the hottest TV show called “American Idiot” instead of “American Idol”, the Rolling Stones looking especially geriatric and 3-D computer screens that pop images. The technology? Software will take advantage of artificial intelligence and become “smart”. We’ll be able to log on once online to have access to every site we need, and employees will have applications at their fingertips that empowers them to help control spend. And those who do manage their spend will be rewarded.  With revenue being so hard to come by,

Key Quote: “Procurement will have a a seat at the front of the table…The spotlight is on us in the Procurement realm today. We have an opportunity to seize the moment.”