Gartner research shows that external spend comprises approximately 45% of overall spend for the median legal department, yet legal leaders often have trouble understanding where much of that spend originates. Legal leaders continue to invest in spend management solutions to improve their insights into external spend data. However, many of these same leaders find it difficult to translate that data into insights to inform decision making, even when spend data is accessible in dashboards or reports. 

When it comes to improving how external spend is evaluated, legal leaders should first determine the goals they want to achieve (e.g., reducing costs or improving quality) and then identify and track data to inform strategic decisions.