Higher education procurement is evolving.
Institutions are managing increasingly complex needs, from EdTech platforms and research tools to sustainability initiatives and campus operations. The question for procurement teams is no longer just how do we purchase, but rather how do we manage institutional spend more strategically across all categories?
Category management is a strategy to group related goods or services into categories and manage each as a group. Rather than let IT, facilities, academic technology, or professional services be seen as individual items in departments, you can create a more consistent and focused approach to procurement by segmenting. Category management helps you align purchasing with broader goals like cost control, compliance, student outcomes, or sustainability. Common categories for higher ed might include:
The goal is to create a coordinated procurement strategy within each category and maximize contract value across departments and campuses. At the same time, you can build deeper relationships with suppliers in key areas, which fosters innovation.
This is especially valuable in areas that are specialized to education like technology. For example, standardizing contracts for lab equipment and research services helps align with grant requirements and safety protocols. Consolidating service contracts for custodial or transportation reduces complexity and increases pricing transparency.
When each category is managed holistically, institutions can make smarter decisions, negotiate better terms, and avoid duplicated efforts.
To better understand the shift, here’s how category management compares to traditional procurement approaches:
Feature | Traditional Procurement | Category Management |
Focus | Transactional purchases | Strategic business planning |
Scope | Individual departments | Cross-campus, cross-functional |
Data Use | Limited or siloed | Centralized, analytics-driven |
Supplier View | Fragmented | Performance-based and strategic |
Outcomes | Short-term savings | Long-term value and alignment |
Category management evolves the procurement process into a collaborative approach driven by data.
While many institutions still view procurement through a transactional lens, category management offers a framework that emphasizes long-term value and alignment with institutional priorities. To get there, though, colleges and universities must overcome visibility and coordination challenges. Before you can take full advantage of category management strategies, you need to know what you’re working with.
For example, one recent study of procurement teams asked some important questions. Take a look at the results:
That lack of visibility makes it hard to manage spend by category, let alone optimize it.
Even with the right tools, many higher ed institutions struggle with execution. According to a global survey on procurement readiness, about a third of professionals say stakeholder engagement is their biggest challenge, and 17% say their team lacks the skills needed for effective category management.
Procurement teams must involve end users, including faculty, IT, facilities, and finance, early in the category planning process. When groups help define requirements and review supplier performance, you get greater buy-in and adoption.
Training may be needed as category management requires a different set of skills, including:
Cooperative contracts serve as ready-made solutions for institutions pursuing category-based procurement. They offer:
Instead of issuing RFPs for every purchase, you can respond to, “What is procurement in education?” by saying it is a focus on category-level planning, stakeholder engagement, and ongoing performance management, supported by cooperative agreements.
So, what is category management in education procurement? It’s a structured, data-driven approach to align procurement with institutional goals. It drives better visibility, better supplier relationships, and better outcomes. By taking a category-based approach and leveraging cooperative contracts, colleges and universities can turn procurement into a competitive advantage.
Ready to implement category management without the complexity? Explore E&I’s comprehensive contract categories and see how we’ve already done the strategic grouping for you.