I took up a purchasing/subscriptions role in a business library in a bank years ago in a role which managed a large monthly purchasing budget for news journals, digital information resources, etc. I thought it would be an easy-peasy 'if it isn't broken, don't change it' and rubber stamp 'renew, renew, renew' job. A new manager who was senior to me went nuclear when I submitted a $40K renewal for budget approval from run-of-the-mill subscriptions that had been taking place for years, and demanded that I re-negotiate everything with the supplier and slash half of those purchases. The supplier was pissed off, and rebalancing that relationship took meetings and negotiations. Purchasing can be easy if it's straightforward and ordering items off a list, but it can be considerably harder and more stressful when client negotiations, budget restrictions, and missed or late product deliveries take place.