Business complexity is rising, and expectations continue to demand more for less. McKinsey’s recent research shows that the average procurement full-time equivalent now manages 50% more spend than five years ago, while artificial intelligence (AI) is rapidly lifting expectations around speed, quality, and cost.
For procurement professionals feeling the strain, there is good news. Where there is demand, innovation follows. New solutions - including those powered by AI, automation and specialist networks - are reshaping how procurement work gets done and making capacity and capability gaps easier to address. Suppliers quickly centre on the right solutions for market problems to make even the most time-poor and resource-light procurement specialist’s workload lighter.
Procurement as a service (PaaS)
PaaS blends business process outsourcing with procure-to-pay management to manage elements of a procurement function. Traditionally focused on predictable spend categories, such as information technology, facilities management, contingent staffing and travel, PaaS delivers outcomes aligned to core procurement goals: savings, compliance, scalability, market expertise, and improved visibility and control.
Although PaaS in some spend categories is well established, some models are more developed than others. In contingent staffing managed services, providers have evolved far beyond rigid tiered supply models, with greater value on offer through direct sourcing, complex supply chain management, and advisory support. Direct sourcing, for example, elevates the hiring manager and candidate experience through its representation of employee value proposition (EVP) and culture, while reducing overall cost of hire by meeting volume demand for repeatable roles.
Many PaaS partners are shifting from pure delivery to models that add strategic consulting and complementary services - mirroring a wider trend of suppliers broadening their capabilities to meet the pace and complexity of customer needs. EVP, DE&I (diversity, equity and inclusion), salary and reward benchmarking, employee engagement and candidate testing/assessment services, with recruit, train, deploy and recruitment process outsourcing featuring as complementary services.
Managed marketplaces
Managed marketplaces also integrate business process outsourcing and procure-to-pay management, but with a sharper focus on end user empowerment, flexibility, and supplier choice. They are ideal for unpredictable low-value, high-volume services tail spend, as well as further competitions from multi-supplier frameworks.
Managed marketplaces allow end users to find specialist suppliers, request expressions of interest and proposals, agree statements of work, and manage service delivery. Consultancy managed marketplaces, on the other hand, use AI and light-touch project environments to give suppliers and buyers full visibility of milestones, cost control, change, and outcomes. This shifts negotiations from price driven ‘race-to-the-bottom’ models to value-based procurements that stimulate market innovation and collaboration between supplier and stakeholder to drive better project outcomes. They also support fluid supplier onboarding and dynamic pricing to stimulate competition and secure best value outcomes.
Adding categorisation and sub-categorisation creates visibility of often decentralised and disaggregated spend. This supports long-term strategic planning, empowering procurement to eliminate waste and build resource capacity.
Reed Talent Solutions, for example, manages 30 main categories of services spend, and 100+ subcategories across an 1800+ strong supply chain of specialists. This includes increasingly popular categories like cyber security, business strategy and change management, as well as finance, marketing and IT.
Crucially, marketplaces should combine technology and human expertise - not operate as standalone software as a service - to ensure active user engagement, supplier development, and continual optimisation.
Final thoughts
As change accelerates, procurement must stay adaptable and ready to rethink traditional models. With organisations reshaping their workforces and leaning more heavily on external partners, the need to procure expertise quickly, compliantly, and with clear value will only grow. Those who embrace new models - PaaS, managed marketplaces, and AI enabled solutions - will be best placed to benefit. And remember, suppliers have to respond to changing market needs to remain attractive to their target audience. Sharing your challenges helps them to refine their proposition and build competitive advantage. Suppliers typically don’t interpret early, informal conversations as a buying signal if you’re clear that you’re simply exploring the market. Use these discussions to shape and develop your ideas.
Ready to take the next step? Exploring PaaS, managed marketplaces, or AI solutions? Start a conversation with one of our experts today, and see how the right partners can quickly turn pressure into progress.
