NPI and ISM Form Strategic Alliance to Help Supply Chain Teams Navigate Rising Technology Spend and Supplier Complexity

ATLANTA--(BUSINESS WIRE)--NPI today announced a strategic alliance with Institute for Supply Management® (ISM®) to provide ISM members with expanded access to NPI’s IT procurement intelligence, training and advisory services. This collaboration will integrate NPI’s gold standard of IT supplier, pricing and licensing intelligence into ISM’s professional education and supply chain community.

Technology purchasing has become a critical area for procurement teams as organizations evaluate software, cloud, cybersecurity and AI investments against cost, risk and business performance expectations. As supplier pricing models, licensing terms and renewal dynamics become more complex, procurement teams need clearer market context before entering negotiations. The alliance is designed to help procurement teams deliver clearer benchmarks, stronger commercial context and practical negotiation support for high-stakes technology purchasing decisions. ISM members and corporate partners can engage NPI at preferred rates negotiated for the ISM community. This access includes NPI’s data-driven insights, analyst-led benchmarking and practical negotiation guidance.

Specifically, ISM members will benefit from:

• Product and Vendor Intelligence: SKU-level insight into product features and capabilities, combined with supplier intelligence on pricing behavior, commercial models and deal patterns so teams know exactly what and from whom they are buying.
• Contextual, Analyst-led Benchmarking: Transaction-level benchmarks interpreted by experienced human analysts who account for deal structure, scope, timing and customer profile, producing comparisons that are relevant, defensible and actionable rather than generic averages.
• Actionable Negotiation Strategy and Tactics: Prescriptive negotiation playbooks and vendor-specific tactics that show teams how to apply NPI’s intelligence in live negotiations to improve pricing, contractual terms and commercial outcomes.

Combining NPI’s proprietary data and agentic AI-powered insights with ISM’s educational and community offerings, this partnership delivers a blueprint for more effective IT procurement. These capabilities are available to ISM members through a preferred, value-added offering.

“Partnering with ISM allows us to extend our capabilities to a broader community of procurement leaders,” said Jon Winsett, Chief Executive Officer at NPI. “Together, we are equipping ISM members with the intelligence and expertise needed to operate from a position of strength in their technology supplier relationships.”

“Procurement teams are being asked to play a larger role in technology decisions that affect cost, risk and business performance,” said Debbie Fogel-Monnissen, Interim Chief Executive Officer at ISM. “This alliance gives our members and corporate partners a preferred pathway to specialized IT procurement intelligence while reinforcing ISM’s role in connecting the supply chain community to resources that help them lead with clarity and confidence.”

The alliance underscores a shared commitment to advancing the role of IT procurement excellence through data, insight, and execution. Together, ISM and NPI will empower organizations to improve outcomes, strengthen supplier engagements, and maximize return on technology investments.

About NPI

NPI is the premier provider of data, services and tools to help large enterprises identify and eliminate overspending on IT purchases. NPI delivers transaction-level price benchmark analysis, license and service optimization analysis, and vendor-specific negotiation intel that enables IT buying teams to drive material savings and measurable ROI. NPI analyzes billions of dollars in spend each year for clients spanning all industries that invest heavily in technology. NPI also offers software audit, audit defense, and asset management services. For more information, visit www.npifinancial.com and follow on LinkedIn.

About Institute for Supply Management^®

Institute for Supply Management^® (ISM^®) empowers supply chain professionals at every stage of their career through world-class education, globally recognized certifications, a vibrant professional community, and the market-moving ISM^® PMI^® Reports. Founded in 1915, ISM serves a community of over 200,000 practitioners in more than 100 countries. Learn more at ismworld.org.