Art of Procurement

166: Laying the Foundations for a Role Change in 2018

08 Jan 2018

Contributed by Lukas

I was inspired to cover today's topic based on a question from a listener who has resolved to make a career move in 2018… I know from personal exper...

165: Articulating Procurement's 'Brand Promise' to the Organization w/ Chandar Pattabhiram

18 Dec 2017

Contributed by Lukas

My guest today is Chandar Pattabhiram, the new Chief Marketing Officer at Coupa. We sat down and recorded this podcast during the SIG Fall Summit in C...

164: Black Belt Procurement: The Power of Maintained Focus w/ Lawrence Kane

11 Dec 2017

Contributed by Lukas

My guest today is Lawrence Kane, a Fortune 50 strategic sourcing and functional excellence lead. Lawrence and I sat down to talk at the SIG Fall Summi...

163: Procurement Takes the Leap and Embraces 'Vested' w/ Kate Vitasek

04 Dec 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Hi there everyone, and welcome to this week's Art of Procurement interview, which is powered by SIG. My guest today is Kate Vitasek, a member of the g...

162: The Role of Procurement in the War Against Data Security Threats w/ Chris Camejo

27 Nov 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Hi there everyone, and welcome to this week's Art of Procurement interview, which is powered by SIG. My guest today is Chris Camejo, the Director of P...

161: Sourcing Optimization is About Visibility, Not Complexity w/ Alan Holland

20 Nov 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Welcome to today's Art of Procurement interview powered by SIG. Today's show is part of a mini-series of six different episodes that I recorded live a...

160: The Success of Sourcing Business Models at GuideWell w/ Tim Cronin

13 Nov 2017

Contributed by Lukas

My guest this week on the pod is Tim Cronin, the CPO of GuideWell, a not-for-profit mutual holding company in the healthcare industry. Tim and I conne...

BMP Radio on AOP: The Pathway from Human Buyer to Power Buyer w/ Jonathan O'Brien

09 Nov 2017

Contributed by Lukas

You will notice from the title, that this is not an ordinary Art of Procurement podcast.  In fact, it is not an AOP podcast at all. As regular listen...

159: Staging a Supply Chain Intervention w/ Christian Lanng

06 Nov 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Hi there everyone, and welcome to this week's Art of Procurement interview, powered by SIG. My guest today is Christian Lanng, the co-founder, Chairma...

158: Scaling the Power of Freelancers and Independent Contractors w/ Gene Zaino

30 Oct 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Today, I am joined by Gene Zaino, the founder and CEO of MBO Partners. MBO Partners are at the forefront of the gig or the project economy. I was deli...

157: Increasing Procurement's Strength through Diverse Perspectives w/ Antonio Humphreys

23 Oct 2017

Contributed by Lukas

I am joined today by Antonio Humphreys, the Senior Manager of Global Procurement at Adobe Systems based in California. I've actually seen Antonio spea...

156: Heads up! Overcoming Communications Hurdles w/ Julienne Ryan

16 Oct 2017

Contributed by Lukas

I am joined today by Julienne Ryan, Principal of J Ryan Partners. Julienne is a former Executive Director of ISM-New York but the majority of her care...

155: The Applications and End Game of Machine Learning w/ David Hearn

09 Oct 2017

Contributed by Lukas

I am joined today by a repeat guest and friend of the show David Hearn.  David is a long time procurement executive for companies such as Juniper Net...

154: Be Prepared for GDPR: Procurement Role in Personal Data Protection & Privacy w/ Jen Warner and Eric Martin

02 Oct 2017

Contributed by Lukas

I am joined today by two guests, Jen Warner and Eric Martin.   Jen Warner is the Vice President of Compliance and Chief Development Officer of Ashe L...

153: How Ace Hardware Uses a RASCI Model to Drive Stakeholder Collaboration w/ Fraz Baig

25 Sep 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Today I am joined by Fraz Baig, a long time listener and friend of the show who is a Senior Manager at Ace Hardware, managing all of Ace's corporate s...

152: How to Identify Software Savings Without Relying on Price Reductions w/ Mohammed Faridy

18 Sep 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Software has always been one of those categories where on the surface, cost savings appear hard to find. Often the vast majority of spend is with soft...

151: How to Attract & Retain A-Level Talent in a Constrained Market w/ Naseem Malik

11 Sep 2017

Contributed by Lukas

After a week hiatus for Labor Day here in the US, we are back with another great interview (and I mean great!) Joining me today is my good friend Nase...

150: Build a Stronger Partnership with your CFO & their Finance Team w/ Peter de Heer

28 Aug 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Today I am joined on the Art of Procurement by Peter de Heer, a partner at Expense Reduction Analysts. Before joining Expense Reduction Analysts, Pete...

149: The Mindset Shifts Needed to Become a Successful Independent Procurement Consultant w/ Anthony English

21 Aug 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Today, we are doing something a little bit different, and today's show is for independent procurement consultants or for those considering making the ...

148: Pitfalls & Innovations in Writing Effective Contracts w/ Nick Seiersen

14 Aug 2017

Contributed by Lukas

My guest today is Nick Seiersen, a Director with the International Association for Contract and Commercial Management, or IACCM for short.   Nick is...

147: The Role of Supplier Intelligence in Elevating Procurement's Impact w/ Stephany Lapierre & Greg Tennyson

07 Aug 2017

Contributed by Lukas

I am joined on the virtual couch this week by two returning guests and friends of the pod, Greg Tennyson, the CPO of VSP, and Stephany Lapierre, CEO a...

146: How to Bring Trust & Transparency to the Cost Savings Reporting Process w/ Pierre Lapree

31 Jul 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Joining me today on the show is Pierre Lapree.  Pierre founded Per Angusta, a procurement project pipeline and performance tracking tool, over four y...

145: Negotiate Win-Win Deals with Supplier Specific Sourcing Intelligence (3SI) w/ Michael Shaw

24 Jul 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Today I am joined by Michael Shaw.  Michael is well known through the Sourcing industry, particularly here in the US, he is currently chairperson of ...

144: How Newell Brands Makes Procurement Analytics a Competitive Advantage, w/ Jonathan Grant & Ben Szostek

17 Jul 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Today I have a really insightful interview to share with Jonathan Grant and Ben Szostek, two senior leaders within the procurement group at Newell Bra...

143: A Procurement Leaders Guide to Spend Analysis (Part 2) w/ David Bush

10 Jul 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Today on the Art of Procurement, I welcome back David Bush, the Chief Revenue Officer for SpendHQ. David joined me back in Episode 139 to share his ad...

142: Is "Best-in-Class" Procurement a Fallacy?

03 Jul 2017

Contributed by Lukas

It is Independence Day week here in the US, and so what I thought I would do today is to go back into the achieves and replay one of my solo shows tha...

140: Intergenerational Differences in Procurement: Beyond the Label, w/ Jim Baehr & Michael Urick

19 Jun 2017

Contributed by Lukas

We have all read the blog posts and listened to the talking heads who inform us that Generation X believes this, and Millennials believe that. But are...

139: A Procurement Leaders Guide to Spend Analysis (Part 1) w/ David Bush

12 Jun 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Today on the pod I am joined by David Bush, formerly of IASTA and Determine, and now Chief Revenue Officer for spend analytics specialist SpendHQ. It ...

138: When Phil Met Woz: Nurturing Innovation from Within w/ Steve Wozniak

05 Jun 2017

Contributed by Lukas

We are in for a treat this week on the show.  I am joined by Steve Wozniak, the co-founder of Apple, the inventor of the personal computer, and a ser...

137: Finding Your Procurement Mojo: This Month in Procurement

29 May 2017

Contributed by Lukas

This Month in Procurement returns, and this week Mark and I welcome a special guest, Sigi Osagie. Sigi is the charismatic author of the popular procur...

136: How CPO's and Academia Combined to Set the Indirect Procurement Standard w/ Sime Curkovic

22 May 2017

Contributed by Lukas

At the Art of Procurement, we get many press releases - usually detailing client wins, technology updates, or company acquisitions.  However, there w...

135: The Art of Software Licensing and the Move to the Cloud w/ Randy Roth

15 May 2017

Contributed by Lukas

There was a time, not long ago, when the only procurement professionals who bought software had responsibility for IT sourcing. Today, with the explos...

134: How Google is Moving the Procurement Sphere of Influence w/ David Natoff & Bernd Huber

08 May 2017

Contributed by Lukas

As a procurement leader, how do you balance the needs of your stakeholders with your responsibility to be guardians of third party spend? That is the ...

133: Self-Service Sourcing: An Opportunity or Threat for Procurement? w/ Shaz Khan

01 May 2017

Contributed by Lukas

I am joined today by Shaz Khan, the co-founder and Chief Strategy Officer at Vroozi, a leading cloud-based business purchasing platform. Shaz has a de...

132: Building a Procurement Function from the Ground Up, w/ Dave Quillin

24 Apr 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Joining me on the show today is Dave Quillin, the manager of procurement for Alliant Credit Union, the seventh largest credit union in the United Stat...

131: How Best Buy Procurement Delivers Value Beyond Savings through CSR, w/ Tim Meester

17 Apr 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Today, I'm joined by Tim Meester. Tim is the Senior Director of Procurement and Sustainability for Best Buy, an almost forty billion dollar revenue pr...

130: Innovation Broker: Procurement's Next Frontier, w/ Jon Washington

10 Apr 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Back in my days in the automotive industry, supplier led innovation played - and still plays - a key role in the development of new innovative product...

129: Demystifying Blockchain & It's Impact on Procurement, w/ Jack Shaw

03 Apr 2017

Contributed by Lukas

I think it is fair to say that you can't move for reading Blockchain related articles today. But to be honest, I have always been a little confused by...

128: Prepare for the Unknown at ISM2017, w/ Lara Nichols

27 Mar 2017

Contributed by Lukas

My guest on the Art of Procurement this week is Lara Nichols. Lara is the Head of Procurement for insurance company NFP Corp, and is also leading the ...

127: How the State of California Embeds Sustainability into its Procurement of Goods and Services, w/ Jim Butler

20 Mar 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Today I am joined on the Art of Procurement by Jim Butler, the Chief Procurement Officer (CPO) for my home State of California Prior to joining the St...

126: Why Global Buying Strategies Are Often Doomed to Fail & What You Can Do About It, w/ Brian Bancroft

13 Mar 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Brian Bancroft, the Vice President of Direct Procurement at The Coca-Cola Company joins me today as my guest on the Art of Procurement. The diversity ...

BONUS: Introducing Palambridge, my new business that delivers strategic procurement, on demand.

13 Mar 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Today, Kelly Barner (Buyers Meeting Point) and I announced that we have founded a new entity to meet the strategic needs of forward-thinking procureme...

125: How the American Cancer Society Elevated the Role of Procurement, w/ Brian Kyle

07 Mar 2017

Contributed by Lukas

How does the role of procurement differ in a mission driven organization? Today on the Art of Procurement, I explore how procurement can help save liv...

124: How D&B Procurement Increased Customer Satisfaction by 40% in 5 Months, w/ Kevin Giblin

28 Feb 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Today on the Art of Procurement I am joined by Kevin Giblin, Head of Global Sourcing & CPO of data analytics company Dun & Bradstreet. In today's epis...

News: This Month in Procurement & Even Bigger Ideas Podcasts

23 Feb 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Pardon the interruption! It has been a busy couple of weeks here at Art of Procurement Towers, and so I wanted to share details of a couple of new sho...

123: The Big Idea: Are You Ready for Procurement 4.0? w/ Tania Seary

21 Feb 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Today's guest was the first ever interviewee on the Art of Procurement.  All the way back in Episode 2, Tania Seary, the Founder of Procurious, as we...

122: Beyond the Numbers: A Deep Dive into the Deloitte 2017 CPO Survey w/ Lance Younger

14 Feb 2017

Contributed by Lukas

I have always sought out the Deloitte CPO Survey as a leading indicator on the health of the procurement function and just a couple of days ago, Deloi...

121: How to Reduce Your Wireless Spend Without Switching Suppliers, w/ Drew Polin

07 Feb 2017

Contributed by Lukas

My guest today is Drew Polin.  Drew is the president of OpDecision, a company that helps organizations reduce their wireless spend, specifically with...

120: Be Prepared: Why Digitization Will Transform What, and How, We Buy w/ Bill Huber

31 Jan 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Today's Art of Procurement interview is a real treat.  It is chock full of actionable insights on how we can position our careers, and our organizati...

119: How Anthem Procurement Became a Trusted Advisor to their Marketing Stakeholders w/ Greg Antoniono

24 Jan 2017

Contributed by Lukas

"We never put our own priorities first. If I save money and diminish my stakeholders ability to succeed, then I am counter productive and they are not...

BONUS: This Month in Procurement, January 2017

19 Jan 2017

Contributed by Lukas

January 2017 marks the first month of a new collaboration that I am very excited about.  I am co-hosting a new monthly show, imaginatively titled The...

118: The Differentiators of Category Management Leaders & Followers w/ Mark Webb

17 Jan 2017

Contributed by Lukas

My guest on today's show is Mark Webb. Mark is the Managing Director of UK based procurement consultancy firm, Future Purchasing. Following experience...

117: How to Develop, Deploy and Retain a Team of Procurement Superheroes w/ Mark Trowbridge

10 Jan 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Today's guest on the Art of Procurement is Mark Trowbridge, the co-founder and Principal for Strategic Procurement Solutions, and the former Director ...

116: AOP in 2017, Engaging w/ Start Up's & More

03 Jan 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Welcome to 2017!  In this first show of the year, I share details of Art of Procurement's publishing schedule in 2017, invite applications to a new A...

115: The 10 Most Powerful & Insightful Episodes from 2016

16 Dec 2016

Contributed by Lukas

So here we are: The Best of 2016 List. As the year comes to a close, I sat down to consider which episodes have been the most powerful and impactful i...

114: Fireside Chat w/ Pierre Mitchell of Spend Matters: Hype & Reality for Procurement in 2017

13 Dec 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Pierre Mitchell was the first supply chain practitioner to become a procurement "industry analyst" with roles at AMR Research (now Gartner) followed b...

113: How to Make Your Supplier Happy this Christmas

09 Dec 2016

Contributed by Lukas

On today's Art of Procurement, I answer a listener question. The question was: how do you make a supplier happy. Now, I'm going to assume that the ri...

112: How a Procurement Outsider Powered Transformation at AEP w/ Matt Curtis

06 Dec 2016

Contributed by Lukas

111: Procurement Math & More: 10 Sins of Day-to-Day Procurement

02 Dec 2016

Contributed by Lukas

I will be in Las Vegas this week at the ISM Indirect Conference, and with Las Vegas also known as Sin City, I thought it would be fun to look back at ...

110: The Art & Science of Influence w/ Gordon Donovan

29 Nov 2016

Contributed by Lukas

This week I welcome Gordon Donovan on to the Art of Procurement.  Gordon is a presently a member of the procurement leadership team at Metro Trains M...

109: The Importance of Mindset in Challenging the Status Quo w/ Elisabeth Schlag Lawrence

25 Nov 2016

Contributed by Lukas

With it being a holiday weekend here in the United States, I thought I would do is share with you one of my favorite submissions from The Procurement...

108: How to Procure Travel More Strategically by Measuring Outcomes, Not Savings w/ Scott Gillespie

22 Nov 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Scott Gillespie is an expert in procurement, and corporate travel.  He was an original member of the AT Kearney team that launched the 7-step sourcin...

107: 5 Tips to Maintaining Your Supplier Relationship after a Tough Negotiation

18 Nov 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Today's episode is in response to a listener question.  I was recently asked for guidance on how to maintain supplier relationships following a tough...

106: Eight Steps to Post-Award Strategic Cost Management w/ Jimmy Anklesaria

15 Nov 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Jimmy Anklesaria is one of the most prominent thought leaders in procurement today.  Jimmy is considered by many as the go-to expert when it comes to...

105: US Elections - Proactive Risk Management in Uncertain Times

11 Nov 2016

Contributed by Lukas

I sat down to record today's episode just a couple of hours after Donald Trump emerged victorious in the US presidential election.  And today, I am g...

104: Decision Points on the Journey to Becoming a CPO w/ Alex Brown

08 Nov 2016

Contributed by Lukas

In today's Art of Procurement we take a look inside the career journey of Alex Brown, long time Chief Procurement Officer for Advanced Micro Devices (...

103: Inside AOP - Reflections on Turning 1 & What's Next?

04 Nov 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Today is the Art of Procurement's first birthday! What a crazy, and rewarding, 12 months it has been.   Today I go behind the scenes at the Art of ...

102: How to Understand Cost & Enable Fact Based Supplier Relationships w/ Jimmy Anklesaria

01 Nov 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Jimmy Anklesaria is one of the most prominent thought leaders in procurement today.  Jimmy is considered by many as the go-to expert when it comes to...

101: Zycus Horizon 2016 Report: Are We Innovating Enough?

28 Oct 2016

Contributed by Lukas

I was thrilled to be a part of the Zycus event as the media partner for the conference. As part of the partnership, I was able to moderate a main stag...

100: Take a Long Term Approach to Generating Procurement Driven Value w/ Mark Perera

25 Oct 2016

Contributed by Lukas

099: Make an Impact that Matters: Key Takeaways from The Procurement Revolution

21 Oct 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Unless you are new to the show, you will have heard me talk all about The Procurement Revolution event that I co-organized with Kelly Barner of Buyers...

098: Key Learnings from a Procurement Source to Pay Technology Transformation w/ Scott Deibert & Bart Baetens

18 Oct 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Carlson Rezidor - one of the largest hotel groups in the world with brands such as Radisson and Park Place – embarked on a path to identify, build a...

097: Advanced Category Management: Category Manager Imperatives

14 Oct 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Today's episode is the second in a two-part series considering Category Management: what we can do not only to implement Category Management, but als...

096: Advanced Category Management: Organizational Building Blocks

11 Oct 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Today's episode is the first in a two-part series considering Category Management: what we can do not only to implement Category Management, but also ...

095: Q&A - Biggest Mistakes in RFP Weighted Scoring

07 Oct 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Back in early September, the Art of Procurement left the recording studio and went live for the first time with a webinar that I hosted with a frie...

094: Where to Start in Integrating Sustainability into the Procurement Process w/ Jason Pearson

04 Oct 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Corporate Social Responsibility – or CSR – is a key value lever that procurement can pull to differentiate ourselves from the perceptions of the p...

093: Procurement Change Must Come from Within w/ Pierre Lapree

30 Sep 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Today is the last day that content will be published in support of The Procurement Revolution event. We have had 40 revolutionaries share their persp...

092: Procurement Fraud: Hear How Sylvain Mansotte Blew the Whistle on a $20M Corruption

27 Sep 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Back in 2012, Sylvain Mansotte received the call from the newly appointed CPO of a large Australian based construction company to assist in the buildi...

091: Harness the Power of Sourcing Business Models w/ Kate Vitasek

23 Sep 2016

Contributed by Lukas

It has been all hands on deck this week preparing for The Procurement Revolution. In the course of recording content, there was a piece that I just ...

090: How to Select & Implement a Contract Management System to Get a Handle on Your Supplier Agreements w/ Samir Bodas

20 Sep 2016

Contributed by Lukas

089: Challenge the Status Quo and Join The Procurement Revolution!

16 Sep 2016

Contributed by Lukas

The Procurement Revolution is less than two weeks away!  I am busily recording content from thought leaders around the world who have inspiring persp...

088: How 30 Under 30 Megawatt Winner Amy Georgi Balances a Successful Career with a Remote Work Arrangement

13 Sep 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Much has been written about the fact that the Millennial Generation will make up 50% of the workforce by 2020.  How to attract and retain Millennial ...

087: Next Generation Procurement (Part 2): Survive & Thrive in the New Era of Procurement

09 Sep 2016

Contributed by Lukas

How can professionals best position themselves for success in the new era of procurement?  That is the question that I explore in the second of a two...

086: How to Increase Your Value to the CFO by Focusing on Cash Management w/ Amber Christian

06 Sep 2016

Contributed by Lukas

085: Next Generation Procurement (Part 1): Will Procurement Exist in 10 Years?

02 Sep 2016

Contributed by Lukas

What will the future of procurement look like, and how as procurement professionals can we prepare for disruption that is heading our way?   In the ...

084: How to Engage with Skeptical Stakeholders to Build Effective Category Strategies w/ Bill Michels

30 Aug 2016

Contributed by Lukas

083: The 10 Critical Steps to Delivering Value as a Service w/ Rob Bernshteyn

26 Aug 2016

Contributed by Lukas

On today's Art of Procurement, I welcome Coupa President and CEO Rob Bernshteyn to the show. In our discussion, Rob and I focus on the concept of valu...

082: How to Embrace SMB's to Access Supplier Driven Innovation w/ Tom Greco & Ed Edwards

23 Aug 2016

Contributed by Lukas

As a Buyer, a key factor in my sourcing decisions was the size of the supplier.  While it is arguably the greatest piece of marketing of all time, th...

081: Outsource Talks: The After-Show Wrap w/ Jamie Liddell

19 Aug 2016

Contributed by Lukas

On Wednesday of this week, I joined host Jamie Liddell (Editor in Chief at Outsource Magazine) and fellow panelists Kate Vitasek (Vested) and Don Ryan...

080: Disruptive Innovation & the Future of Procurement w/ Christian Lanng

16 Aug 2016

Contributed by Lukas

As the Co-Founder, Chairman and CEO of Tradeshift, Christian Lanng is on the front lines of the technology evolution, and he gets to see first-hand th...

079: Going for Gold! The Role of Procurement in Delivering the Olympic Games w/ Gerry Walsh

11 Aug 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Procurement plays a pivotal role in the delivery and execution of the Olympic Games.  However, it was not always like that.  The organizing committe...

078: How to Use Sales Best Practices to Extend your Sphere of Influence, w/ Stan Garber

09 Aug 2016

Contributed by Lukas

As procurement professionals, we often see our peers across the negotiating table as adversaries. However, there is a lot that we can learn and apply ...

077: A CIO's Guide to the Rules of Engagement with IT, w/ Kendra Von Esh

05 Aug 2016

Contributed by Lukas

In my experience, there are few stakeholder relationships that are as important, or as fractious, as those between procurement and IT - particularly w...

076: The Rules of (Procurement) Attraction w/ Andrew Daley

02 Aug 2016

Contributed by Lukas

As the skill sets that CPO's require from their procurement professionals continues to evolve, the market for the most qualified talent is becoming mo...

075: Help Shape The Procurement Revolution!

29 Jul 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Kelly Barner and I feel strongly that we have a lot of opportunity in front of us as a procurement function, but we need to challenge the status quo....

074: The Art, Science & Practice of Crafting Strategic Supplier Relationships w/ Kate Vitasek

26 Jul 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Think of the handful of supplier agreements that you have that are fundamental to your business operations and strategy.  How many of your most mater...

073: Lessons I Learned from Navigating Three Career Crossroads

22 Jul 2016

Contributed by Lukas

At some point in time, we all come to a crossroads. A decision has to be made between two paths that has long term implications on the direction of o...

072: The Education Imperative: How to Develop Your Team Through Next Generation Learning w/ Mark Pollack

19 Jul 2016

Contributed by Lukas

With procurement talent at a premium, and the skills required to be successful rapidly evolving, professional development has arguably never been so i...

071: 5 Ways to Reduce Spend by Managing Demand

15 Jul 2016

Contributed by Lukas

In today's Art of Procurement, I share how the concept of demand management came to the front of my mind while out shopping for birthday presents for ...

070: The Art and Science of Supplier Discovery w/ Stephany Lapierre

12 Jul 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Where do you go for supplier information if you are asked to lead a sourcing project for a product or service you are unfamiliar with? Stephany Lapier...