As per yesterday’s post where we highlighted the top 10 posts from 2018, of which five were on GDPR, the top 9 visited posts of the year were actually from year’s gone by. Today we are going to look at those, and even speculate as to why.

• 9. The Purpose of a Contract is Easy to Define Is it because people, for reasons that perplex the doctor , struggle with contracts? Is it because Lawyers have done a great job pulling a fast one over the majority of the population and convinced them contracts are difficult and must be worded in complex Legalese? Is it because no one believes that contracts are relatively easy to create and can be written in plain English. It’s all about defining what both sides want, what happens when things go wrong, who’s responsible, and how you get out. It’s predicting all the scenarios and accounting for them up front. In plain English.
• 8. Common Challenges of Indirect Procurement Most people in indirect Procurement know these, but it’s always nice to be sure, right? Direct wants to know that the other side of the wall has similar problems? The reason for this post’s popularity is a conundrum.
• 7. A Strategic Sourcing Plan Outline This is probably the most direct, to the point, article out there on what should be in a basic strategic sourcing plan, with a hat-tip to Robi Bendorf of Bendorf & Associates .
• 6. The Evolution of Purchasing
  Who doesn’t like a good history lesson? Especially when it’s one of the few guest posts in SI’s history on the subject (from Lisa Nyce).
• 5. Is There a Difference Between Strategic Category Sourcing and Strategic Category Management
  This is a confusing question, to this day. Both terms are interchanged, used, and misused on a regular basis. No surprises a lot of readers would be looking for some clarification.
• 4. I Will Survive
  Wow! the doctor knows you like his lyrical humour — he often gets more “fan mail” on these pieces then deep expositions (which he knows you read to cure your insomnia), but how did an ode to vendors who need to be forgotten become the fourth most visited post of the year? At least one inquiring (but not Enquiring, Americans will get this) mind wants to know!
• 3. RFX Defined This is obviously the de-facto definition of RFX on the entire World Wide Web.
  This is a top post year after year after year. Webster’s should just point to SI. Seriously. the doctor would be a top ten NYT best-selling author if everyone who read this post bought a book!
• 2. Five Types of Supply Risk and How To Mitigate Them This is probably SI’s top-visited post of all times. Normally 10X the traction of a top 10 post after the top 3 posts of the year are discounted. Can no other source define supply risks so succinctly? the doctor wants to know! The secret sauce in this post is worth a fortune!
• 1. Its My Blog This post is obviously mistaken for the about post. SI’s rant anthem is pretty damn good, but #1 good?