In this article, guest author Steve Collins explains why combining procurement and supplier management is essential for long-term value and risk reduction, and how integrated procurement supplier management can transform business outcomes.

In the world of procurement, we often spend so much time focused on getting the deal right—cost, terms, onboarding—that we can lose sight of what happens next. I’ve seen it more than once: a great piece of commercial work that delivers upfront savings, only to unravel in delivery due to missed expectations, poor communication, or simple lack of follow-up.

This has led me to think more critically about the difference between procurement and supplier management, and why the two really shouldn’t be separated if we’re serious about sustainable value. Increasingly, organisations are seeing the benefits of integrated procurement supplier management as a way to ensure long-term success.

A Scenario That Hits Home

Let’s say you’ve just wrapped up a successful negotiation with a key IT supplier. The pricing is sharp, KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) are in place, and you’ve done the legals with proper diligence.

Then, six months in, your stakeholders are flagging missed SLAs (Service Level Agreements), support delays, or unexpected licence uplifts. Sound familiar?

That gap between the deal and the delivery is exactly where supplier management needs to live. Without integrated procurement supplier management, procurement becomes a one-time event instead of an ongoing value engine.

Definitions: Let’s Be Clear

Procurement management is the strategic process of identifying organisational needs, sourcing and evaluating suppliers, negotiating contracts, and ensuring goods or services are purchased at optimal value. It’s typically front-loaded and focused on commercial terms, compliance, and risk.

Supplier management, in contrast, kicks in once the contract is live. It’s about monitoring performance, managing change, resolving issues, and ensuring both sides deliver on the promise of the agreement. It also opens the door to innovation, continuous improvement, and deeper collaboration.

Why Doing Both Matters

In smaller or growing businesses, it’s not uncommon for the procurement manager to wear multiple hats—handling everything from sourcing and negotiation to supplier performance and risk. While this can be a benefit in terms of agility and speed, it can also stretch resources thin.

Being a jack of all trades means having oversight, but it also means critical areas like supplier monitoring or data privacy compliance may receive less focused attention. This hybrid role can drive short-term wins, but over time it risks creating gaps where value, performance, or risk management fall between the cracks.

Many organisations are strong on procurement but weak on supplier follow-through. That can lead to:

Contracted value not being realised
Lack of leverage at renewal time
Supplier disengagement
Untracked risks and performance drift

What we really need is a mindset shift: from ‘cost-out at contract’ to ‘value through lifecycle’. Unchecked supplier issues aren’t just commercial concerns—they can expose organisations to GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) non-compliance, business continuity failures, or reputational damage.

When integrated procurement supplier management is in place, organisations can:

Maximise ROI on commercial deals
Spot performance issues early
Drive innovation through supplier relationships
Renew from a position of strength

In fact, third-party risk advisors like Risk Evolves emphasise that supplier oversight is a core pillar of operational resilience. Their work in supply chain assurance and risk monitoring underscores the point: contracts aren’t where risk ends—they’re where risk visibility begins.

Real-World Example: Pharma and Tech

In my world—procurement in a pharma and IT-heavy environment—the risks of supplier disengagement or misalignment are amplified. I’ve seen global SaaS (Software as a Service) vendors where procurement nailed a framework deal, but because nobody managed the relationship post-signature, business units went rogue, usage soared, and costs spiralled.

On the other hand, I’ve seen great examples where regular QBRs (Quarterly Business Reviews), supplier segmentation, and performance scorecards helped us avoid renewal shocks, improve support SLAs, and build trust with key vendors.

In similar sectors, risk consultancies such as Risk Evolves have helped organisations audit their supply chains to proactively identify where contracts were underperforming, where cyber and compliance exposure had gone unnoticed, and where ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) and sustainability risks had not yet been assessed—a growing priority in today’s regulatory landscape.

What Good Looks Like

From my perspective, best-in-class organisations:

Align procurement and supplier management under a shared playbook
Tier suppliers not just by spend but by risk and criticality
Use data to track performance and identify red flags
Engage independent risk specialists (such as Risk Evolves) to periodically assess supplier maturity, data security posture, and compliance risk—especially in regulated or IT-intensive environments
Hold structured supplier reviews with action tracking, and embed supplier oversight into your risk governance framework—with defined owners, escalation paths, and audit-ready documentation
Treat suppliers as partners, not just vendors

This isn’t just theory—it’s what leading organisations are actually doing. A 2023 Spendflo report showed that organisations with integrated procurement supplier management frameworks deliver 15–20% more retained value over the contract lifecycle compared to procurement-only models.

Final Thought

Procurement opens the door. Supplier management is what keeps the relationship moving, evolving, and delivering over time.

If we want to break out of the cycle of renewal-time panic, missed opportunities, and reactive fire drills, we need to stop treating supplier engagement as an afterthought.

Getting the deal right is only half the job. Making sure it works—in the real world, under real pressure—is where the real value shows up. That’s where the difference between a contract and a partnership becomes clear.

Integrated procurement supplier management is the key to unlocking sustainable value and resilience in your supply chain.

Article provided by

Steve Collins

Steve Collins is an experienced procurement professional based in the UK, known for his strategic sourcing expertise and commitment to driving value and service quality across supply chains. With experience in both public and private sector procurement, Steve has led high-impact negotiations, implemented cost-saving initiatives, and built strong supplier relationships. He works closely with key business areas to ensure procurement activities align with critical requirements around information security, data privacy, and ESG, supporting robust and compliant supplier management across the organisation.

Don’t let great deals fall apart in delivery.

The Risk Evolves team can help you embed integrated procurement supplier management and robust supplier oversight into your business.

Get in touch for a confidential chat about how we can support your organisation’s supply chain and risk management goals.

April 24, 2025
Supply Chain Management
contract performance monitoring, integrated procurement supplier management, procurement best practices, procurement value delivery, procurement vs supplier management, strategic procurement, supplier lifecycle management, supplier performance improvement, supplier relationship management, supply chain risk management