In all the excitement about Nylon we all but forgot about our Norwegian experience. Which is unfair, because as far as day long events on relatively unknown topics by relatively unknown solution providers from relatively unknown lands go (phew!)… it was a cracker of an event! Just shows that our premise of experience sharing being attractive and relevant, is not misguided. Though it is one of the wealthiest nations in the world (per-capita-wise): Norway does not have a great number of super-large organizations. But the ones it has are world-class in every way. So when I report that some of the largest local organizations were there, it is with some pride. Telenor (incumbent telecom company of Norway), Ringnes (Norway’s largest brewer), Tine (the biggest diary producer in Norway), Borregaard (the world’s largest supplier of wood-based chemicals), Posten Norge (Norway’s default postal service), Norsk Hydro (the fourth largest Aluminum producer in the world)… ok I shall stop now as this is borderline hubris. But you get the picture.
The venue (featured here) was the amazing Radisson SAS Plaza hotel in downtown Oslo. The meeting room was on the 33rd floor – the view from which which provided the early birds with sufficient distraction as they waited for the other participants to arrive. One could see the entire old city blanketed with a coat of snow, the harbor and the imposing fjords in the distance. If we weren’t busy organizing stuff we would all be just sitting by the window and sighing…
The highlight of the event was a keynote session by Edgar Heitmann from Corporate Development Purchasing in Orkla ASA – one of Norway’s largest industrial conglomerates. As a current user of Spend Management, Mr. Heitmann shared insight on how Spend Management enabled Orkla to capture purchasing synergies.
He had useful tips for the audience on how one could develop and execute an organization-wide mandate on Procurement Transformation. As Orkla is one of the largest global Norwegian companies, the audience greatly benefited from their experiences. There were many questions for Mr.Heitmann, so many that it ate into lunch! (pun intended)
…which was some amazing Norwegian Trout with white sauce. After lunch, the group returned back to the meeting room for repeat performance of the panel in Amsterdam. Only difference, this time there was no panel. Instead Anurag Dixit (VP Marketing at Zycus) and Arthur Raguette (VP Business Development at Zycus) – both industry veterans – drove an interactive audience experience-sharing session on how Spend Management can enable a globally integrated procurement platform. Though the excellent lunch had made the audience a bit “heavy” – the involvement soon picked up and there was a healthy exchange of experiences and ideas around the room.
The event was finally brought to a close with a superb demo of Integrated Spend Management by Hari Prasad from Zycus. This was what the audience had been waiting for… a glimpse into a futuristic experience of Spend Management. And many were surprised to find out that the future of Spend Management is so… well … human! The entire thought process of software design by keeping humans as the focus, manifested itself in front of them as they saw how easy it was to identify, predict, realize and track savings.
The audience, almost entirely comprised of senior decision makers in the field of procurement had been exemplary. They asked pertinent questions and contributed with their own experiences. And they had to be rewarded. Apart from the silk paintings (which they loved), they brought the evening to an early end with a networking cocktail and coffee session. We had various requests of conducting more such experience sharing sessions – and we couldn’t stop beaming and nodding our heads vigorously!
When the last of the guests had left… the team grabbed some wine and finger food and relaxed for the first time in what felt like a lifetime. No one said much but there was an air of the contentedness that comes with the knowledge of a job well done.
Speak your Experience