IBM/Georgia Center for Nonprofits Case Study: A New Customer Segment Embraces Procurement Outsourcing

This IDC Buyer Case Study discusses Georgia Center for Nonprofits' (GCN's) agreement with IBM to develop a procurement shared services and technology platform for improved sourcing and reduced procurement costs. This document provides background on GCN and its role within the nonprofit sector in Georgia, the organizational imperatives that led it to consider procurement outsourcing, and the decision-making process for this engagement.

The document also provides insight into the implementation and progress on the engagement thus far and GCN's future plans and vision. The study is based on an in-depth interview conducted by IDC in March 2006 with GCN CEO Karen Beavor. Beavor conceived the idea of a "nonprofit marketplace," essentially a shared-service platform for nonprofits to gain access to procurement competencies, scale, and technologies. Beavor has been responsible for initiating, designing, and executing this program in partnership with IBM.

Finally, this document provides IDC's analysis of the implications of this deal for the procurement business process outsourcing (BPO) marketplace. For end users of BPO, particularly those from nontraditional quarters such as nonprofit and the midmarket, IDC offers some key pieces of advice in terms of drawing lessons from this engagement as well as guidelines for evaluating the applicability of procurement BPO. There is also essential guidance for vendors seeking to enter untapped segments of the procurement BPO services market.