Reducing risks, streamlining operations, and cutting costs are goals that all companies—public and private alike—have in common. No two departments are more equipped to collaboratively tackle these objectives than compliance and procurement.

Over the last decade, many large companies have experienced a broad transformation in their procurement functions. Rather than see procurement solely as a transactional business function—purchasing goods at the lowest cost—more companies are realizing the inherent value in procurement serving as a versatile and dependent ally to the compliance department.

Jaclyn Jaeger is a freelance contributor to Compliance Week after working for the company for 15 years. She writes on a wide variety of topics, including ethics and compliance, risk management, legal,...