With the global oil and gas industry facing challenging times and this situation looking unlikely to change significantly in the near future, it is vital that businesses within the sector put perceived ‘competition’ on managing supplier risk to one side and join forces for the benefit of the industry as a whole. At the beginning of this report, we highlighted several of the most common pain points for oil and gas buyers, and it can now be seen that collaboration is a key part of the solution. By joining a supplier information community, companies can share the burden of gathering, managing and updating supplier information, while strengthening their supply chains. Our communities also make the supplier sourcing process more transparent and significantly easier, reducing risk, unnecessary costs and wasted time, alongside helping firms to stay compliant with the most recent procurement laws. Buyers can join just one central platform, streamlining the process and reiterating the idea that oil and gas businesses should be adopting the mantra ‘work smarter, not harder,’ in light of the current climate of the industry.