Patrick Reymann is in the What the Duck?! Hot seat today. Sarah and Patrick delve into why the direct material sourcing space merits more attention from the analyst community. Patrick is an Enterprise and Procurement Applications Analyst for IDC is highly interested in the attributes that are most meaningful to buyers. After spending over 20 years as a sourcing and procurement consultant he moved over to the analyst world. Learn all about the ins and outs analyst community, what they do and the impact they have on direct materials sourcing.  Show Highlights Cycling, Sports, and Woodworking Fanatic Career Beginnings in the U.S. Air ForceMoving into Consulting Direct Materials Procurement LearningsAnalysts Ignore Direct Materials SourcingFrom Consultant to Analyst – What do they do? Technology Trends  MOMENTS TO DUCK AROUNDPATRICK: Learnings over the years in Direct Materials Procurement "All of the global upheaval that we've had over the past couple of years has really shown a light on the direct side. You know, when we talk about all the supply chain challenges that we're all very familiar with, we're not talking about challenges on the indirect side. We're not talking about people couldn't get laptops and people couldn't get complimentary workforce labor or office supplies. No, we're talking about direct. So, you know, in that vein, it's been as difficult as the past couple of years have been. It's really elevated the position of the supply chain practitioner and, in particular, direct practitioners. And so, we collectively have a much larger seat available. Our voice carries more weight today than it did three years ago, and it's time to take advantage of that."PATRICK: Technology Trends in the Direct Space “Automation and the infusion of what I call intelligent decision support tools, everybody is looking at that for so many reasons, just the workforce challenges is one reason. We have a number of surveys that talk about how entities are utilizing these intelligent systems because they're challenged from a staffing perspective. Automation is absolutely a desired attribute for so many buyers.”