Where do you see Procurement/SCM as a discipline or function in the next 5 years?

Many organizations today are looking closer at core competencies and taking cost out or the organizations and relying more heavily on external partners to jointly drive value. Buyer /Seller relationships may change from beating up suppliers on cost to relationships where the buyer becomes the customer of choice COC to gain joint competitive advantage through outcome-based relationships. Advances in Cloud-Based Service Technologies and various Cognitive Technologies are driving innovation on top of more stable platforms. This should also make deliver business intelligence over just information, make business commerce simpler and help optimize working capital across the value chain. There seems to be a trend toward changing Procurement’s role or image. Procurement is evolving from just a task level negotiator of final details to a trusted business partner. Procurement adds value by identifying and grabbing innovation opportunities early and crafting a value-driven contracting arrangement that takes cost out and drives continuous improvement. There a trend towards making tasks and services more automated to create better visibility and efficiency so more informed and timely decisions can be made. This is an exciting time in this field. As a valued member of WCSCM where do you see Procurement/SCM as a discipline or function and in the next 5 years? Please share your views.