Streamlining – The Key to a more Sustainable Supply Chain

As social value has become more central to the public procurement process, many businesses are assessing the resiliency, cost-efficiency, and sustainability of their supply chains.

While office suppliers typically used to fill individual niches with specialised products and services, the Digital Age is making this model rapidly fall by the wayside. Now, supplier portfolios are increasingly expected to encompass many areas at once; from print, to cyber security, to telecoms – with a consolidated approach that is proving to be increasingly valuable to modern businesses.

Convenience is the clear advantage of this approach. Since engaging with this model allows you to co-ordinate many different services through one single point of contact, you’re no longer required to chase multiple suppliers to ensure your operations run smoothly. This also means that you are directly affecting how many vehicles are on the road to support your business – which, in turn, means you’ll be generating less carbon emissions.

So what’s stopping you?

For some businesses, making this transition is not so straightforward: with common reasons for hesitation ranging from a fear of change, to too many pending priorities.

What these businesses aren’t realising, however, is that by fostering a strong relationship with a trusted supplier now, the sooner they will become accustomed to a more sustainable, efficient, and flexible business model – better preparing them for the challenges of tomorrow.

The right partnership

Committing to one ‘As-a-Service’ provider is an intimidating prospect, which is why it’s important to make your selection based on specific criteria. Does the supplier offer a range of tried-and-tested services? Are they known for high-quality, responsive customer support? Can they adapt their services to suit you as your business evolves?

At the end of the day, your decision must be made carefully – but once you have committed, the benefits of aligning with a single, streamlined supplier are both numerous and impactful.

Efficiencies breeding efficiencies

Rather than coordinating between many different suppliers to support your services, having a single point of contact means many issues can be resolved quickly and easily. This not only smooths the process of reporting technical issues, but it also means significant savings when it comes to administrative costs – and if you’ve chosen your provider carefully, it ensures a consistent standard of support.

Cost-efficiencies are a further advantage of ‘As-a-Service’ offerings, since their scalable nature allows you to only pay for what you use. In addition to reducing your costs, investing in this kind of setup streamlines your operations – allowing your employees to be more agile, efficient, and productive.

Minimising your footprint

Sustainability is another key benefit to consolidating your supply chain; since, as we touched on previously, moving down to one supplier reduces the amount of carbon emissions coming from transportation-related operations. The environmental benefits don’t end there, however – for example, moving to a Managed IT Service allows you to eliminate redundant, energy-guzzling legacy systems from your operations, and replace them with top-quality, energy efficient devices.

Similarly, e-waste is also lowered – since using an ‘IT-as-a-Service’ provider will reduce your need for multiple hardware devices and servers; with technology such as virtualisation and cloud computing allowing you to gain maximum utility out of fewer machines.

Freedom to innovate

The drive toward investing in sustainable, reliable, cost-effective supply chains is critical to facing whatever challenges the future may hold; but ultimately, these benefits are only the beginning.

As the marketplace becomes more diverse and conscientious toward the environment, companies who are able to easily integrate new technologies will be the ones to thrive. Effortlessly upgrading your IT infrastructure is achievable if you have a good relationship with the right provider - and as you develop in tandem, you will be better-positioned to make tangible contributions to a more sustainable world.

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