An innovative collaboration between London Metropolitan University and Spend Network is transforming the way small tech companies develop their business models.
4 April 2025
Over the past two years, our Knowledge Transfer Partnership with Spend Network has produced research that is not only advancing academic understanding but genuinely transforming how businesses approach digital innovation.
At the heart of this collaboration is a question: how can a traditional data services company successfully transition to become a product-focused technology business?
This April, our KTP Associate, Olha Tereshchenko, presented working paper at the International Purchasing and Supply Education and Research Association Conference in Rotterdam. Standing before leading academics and industry experts from around the world, she shared insights from Spend Network's transformation through their Open Opportunities platform. The research, co-authored with Professor Nigel Caldwell and Barry Dwyer, explores how our industry partner has been revolutionising access to global procurement intelligence.
Following the Rotterdam conference, the KTP project team applied with their research paper to London Met Student and Staff Research Conference 2025. Olha, representing the project team, delivered the presentation in July. Her talk aligned well with this year's conference theme of "Innovation and Community," showing how academic-industry partnerships can create practical solutions for business challenges.
Our research: from service to product innovation
Our paper, titled "Transitioning from Service to Product: A Case Study of AI-Enabled Business Model Innovation," sits at the intersection of business strategy and technology implementation. We have been using Dynamic Capabilities Theory and Digital Business Model Innovation frameworks to understand not just what our industry partner has achieved, but why it worked and how other organisations might follow a similar path.
The research has revealed fascinating insights about the nature of business transformation in data-intensive industries. Traditional procurement data services operated on what we term a "linear growth model" - success was directly tied to headcount and manual processes, but through developing the Open Opportunities platform, Spend Network has created something fundamentally different: a scalable product that can serve thousands of users without proportionally increasing operational costs.
What makes this particularly compelling from the academic perspective is how artificial intelligence has not just been a tool bolted onto existing processes. Instead, AI has enabled our partner to reimagine their entire value proposition – they are no longer just providing raw data; they are delivering insights, accessibility, and intelligence that transforms how users understand global procurement markets.
The platform now covers 125 UK sources and 700 global sources, providing comprehensive procurement intelligence across more than 130 countries.
Why our research matters
The implications of our research extend far beyond Spend Network's specific transformation. Many organisations today face similar challenges in transitioning from traditional service models to digital product offerings. Our study provides not just a theoretical framework but a practical roadmap for managing this transition successfully.
The role of artificial intelligence in business model innovation is becoming increasingly critical across industries. Our research demonstrates how AI technologies can be integrated not only as operational tools but as enablers of entirely new value propositions. This has implications for companies in sectors ranging from financial services to healthcare, where data-driven insights are becoming central to competitive advantage.
Photo: Olha Tereshchenko presenting at the IPSERA Conference in Rotterdam in April 2025
This research has been conducted through a Knowledge Transfer Partnership between London Metropolitan University's Guildhall School of Business and Law and Spend Network, with generous support from Innovate UK.