David Orme, Pontoon’s Director of Global Service Design - Services Procurement, talks about how a three-step approach can help organisations grow Services Procurement from a cost-cutting programme to a strategic business differentiator.
With 61% of organisations already integrating SOW consultants into their contingent workforce programmes, and a further 35% planning to do so within the next two years, a critical question emerges: how do organisations move from fragmented oversight to a cohesive, strategic Services Procurement model that supports workforce planning, risk management and informed decision‑making.
Phase 1: Building the foundations
At its most basic, a Services Procurement programme creates visibility over services spend, delivers basic process discipline, and enables competitive sourcing.
It can bring order to what is often an unmanaged landscape of Statements of Work (SOW), delivering cost reductions and process improvements, and better management of risks related to compliance and misclassification. It’s an essential step for businesses that delivers the visibility and structure you need to move forward.
However, organisations are increasingly recognising the opportunity for a further uplift in business value. They’re shifting Services Procurement from a transactional programme into something that shapes how work gets done.
Phase 2: A strategic procurement service
To unlock more value, a Services Procurement programme needs to grow beyond process administration into the role of a trusted business advisor, able to demonstrate that it’s not a barrier to getting work done, but a partner that can improve outcomes.
In reality, this means getting involved early in the procurement process, before decisions are locked in. Rather than receiving SOW requests that are already fully formed, Services Procurement teams work with business leaders to understand the underlying need and help shape the best approach. Should this be a Statement of Work? Would a competitive tender deliver better value? Are there compliance considerations we need to factor in from the start? Which supplier to use?
This strategic and consultative approach helps to build trust and demonstrate value that business stakeholders can see and feel.
Phase 3: A future-ready total talent experience
Increasingly though, the goal of leading organisations is to deliver a total talent strategy.
This requires close collaboration between procurement, HR and business leaders. Services Procurement can no longer operate as a siloed function with its own strategies and outcomes, separate from HR and talent teams. Instead, it must be engaged early to understand business needs and recommend the most effective sourcing approach, whether that’s SOW, permanent hire, contractor or automation.
An integrated strategy unlocks Services Procurement data to inform workforce planning, optimise how the organisation accesses talent across different channels, and highlights patterns that lead to smarter decisions.
This is more than tracking spend. It’s using intelligence to predict what delivers best value. A strategy that embraces Services Procurement supports rapid response to shifting business needs, prioritises the best talent across all channels, and gives leaders access to data that was previously difficult or impossible to access.
Ensuring Services Procurement excellence
A structured Services Procurement process can deliver significant rewards, yet some organisations struggle to unlock maximum potential. In our experience, the difference between programmes that stall and those that grow often comes down to the sponsor’s approach.
At Pontoon, our Services Procurement teams become part of the business. We engage early, working alongside our clients to run tender processes, and evaluate supplier proposals against commercial, strategic and compliance criteria. This way we ensure that the organisation’s programme outcomes and business goals are fully aligned.
At every stage, the most successful implementations are those that make it easy for people to navigate the programme’s tools and processes. We provide intuitive portals, clear guidance, and helpful support rather than bureaucratic barriers, so people want to engage and benefit from the programme.
Technology leadership is also essential. AI and automation are a foundational part of all our strategic partnerships, whether it’s advanced tools that help with writing SOWs, systems that help identify the best suppliers, large language models that analyse high volumes of data to reduce risks, or predictive analytics that help teams optimise spending patterns and anticipate performance issues before they happen.