astrosystem/Adobe Stock

In today’s headlines, household spending and higher incomes helped boost the U.S. economy in September. In other news, the oil and gas industry reported big losses in the third quarter, in large part because of oversupply. Also, the Sourcing Industry Group is hosting a SIGnature event day to welcome buy-side procurement professionals to network with others. Also, in Spend Matters’ PRO coverage this week, analysts assessed solutions from BlueSnap and VNDLY. Afternoon Coffee brings you the latest in procurement and supply chain news.

agsandrew/Adobe Stock

Optimization is making a resurgence for the third time, with a number of suite vendors recently implementing or expanding their capabilities, but will this time be the charm? It should be, especially considering the COVID-19 disruption.

In this point-counterpoint article, Spend Matters analyst Michael Lamoureux argues for optimization. And Jason Busch, Spend Matters’ Founder, argues that vendors shouldn’t be giving it away.