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PayStream Advisors delivers unbiased, third-party market trend information, assessments of financial automation technology, and innovative ideas to business leaders in healthcare, consumer billing, finance and treasury, accounts receivable and accounts payable.

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Electronic Procurement: Automation Options for your Purchasing Processes


Publication Length: 56 Pages
Publication Date: 12/5/2007
Publisher: PayStream Advisors

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This report on eProcurement is for innovative and forward-thinking organizations that have an active interest in pursuing and adopting eProcurement solutions but need help identifying appropriate strategies, vendors and solutions.
  • The Full Report Includes:
    • Building a business case for procurement automation - key drivers and benefits of electronic procurement
    • The electronic procurement universe - overview of functional components offered as part of an e-procurement solution
    • Different Flavors of E-Procurement - comparing licensed and hosted options with procurement outsourcing
    • Procurement best practices - learn from the innovators about optimizing e- procurement programs
    • Solution provider profiles - in-depth profiles of seven leading providers and the solutions they offer
    • Selecting a solution - factors that impact buying decisions and simple steps to help you select the right partner

Learn from the Innovators!

With so many sophisticated control tools and purchasing monitoring techniques in the marketplace, why aren’t companies making headway to better control these costs? The answer lies in execution. We have identified some tips to help you learn from the experiences of innovative companies and launch ahead of the automation curve. Define Expectations: Even before you start investigating electronic procurement options, have a clear understanding of what you expect to achieve from automation. Thoroughly document the benefits you hope to achieve from automating your procurement process and ensure that they align with your business environment and purchasing needs. By having well-defined expectations, you are creating benchmarks against which you can monitor the success of your procurement program.

  • Appropriate Use of Technology
    • The biggest lesson we learned from early adopters is that it is important to not equate technology alone with strategy. Simply implementing the latest or most expensive electronic procurement solution is not going to help you achieve your objectives. First develop a sound purchasing strategy and then implement the procurement technology that complements the strategy. Remember that the best solution is the ones that suits your unique needs and enables all levels of your procurement strategy to be successful.
  • Company-Wide Support
    • The success of any project requires support from the whole company and e-procurement programs are no different. Senior management needs to be fully engaged, as this enables buy-in from the lower-level employees who will actually be using the system. Ensure that the staff implementing the solution – your in-house IT department – as well as those employees who will be using the functionality – your procurement and accounts payable staff – is involved in the project from the beginning and receives the necessary training to get the most from the application.
  • Corporate Policies
    • Purchasing policies should be dynamic and disseminated from one centralized source. Companies with successful procurement programs utilize their automation solution to communicate purchasing policies and procedures to users of the system. Integrating your corporate policies within the procurement application goes long ways towards reducing maverick spend. When employees know their boundaries and are rewarded for compliance, policies become part of the corporate culture, affording you the best means to effectively manage your processes.
  • Supplier Relationships
    • Communication with your suppliers and vendors is essential to making your procurement strategy click. Given that cost is such a significant factor in the procurement world, it might be tempting to switch suppliers every time you find a cheaper deal. This approach is only effective in the short-term. Strong relationships with a few trusted suppliers, who offer reasonable prices and quality products is definitely going to pay off in the longer-term. And don’t forget to keep your suppliers in the loop about these changes and communicate to them any changes that might be required on their end.
  • Business Intelligence
    • A wealth of information can be gleaned from procurement systems. Recent advances in analytical capabilities allow managers to examine spend at various levels; including type of expense, employee, department and region. One of the richest features in procurement automation today is the ability to use existing data to strategically monitor and tailor purchasing. Companies that are ahead of the automation curve are those that are pro-actively using fraud detection and prevention tools offered by their procurement vendor to address these issues.

Key Insights!

There is a strong business case for Electronic Procurement. The documented productivity and spend management benefits of procurement technology offer a compelling reason for consideration as well as a very tangible ROI for both medium and large enterprises.

The March is ON:

PayStream Advisors’ has determined that while one out of four organizations have already implemented some procurement automation technologies, few have addressed the entire purchase-to-pay process. Clearly these businesses have much more work to do, not to mention the other three-fourths of companies that have yet to implement any electronic procurement technologies.

With So Many Choices, Where Do We Start?

Our analysis of qualified solution providers revealed a sizeable pool of robust solutions. Our research indicates that when considering an e-procurement solution, most technology buyers are not aware of all the technologies available. By the same token, they are not familiar with many of the solution providers addressing the procurement market. As a result, opportunities are regularly being missed both in terms of process improvement and solution selection.

Don’t Fall Too Far Behind:

Companies that rely on traditional purchasing and payment practices, which are burdened by many inefficient, manual tasks, will and themselves at a competitive disadvantage to companies that have automated procurement, and that can therefore better manage their vendor relations, negotiate volume discounts and can control maverick spend at all levels.

Leverage PayStream’s Technology Insights Report:

PayStream’s Technology Insight Series report delivers valuable insights to organizations that need help identifying Web invoicing vendors and solutions for further investigation.

The report features: Ariba | BasWare | Corbus, LLC | ExpenseWatch.com | Ketera | Perfect Commerce | Verian Technologies

Complimentary Document:

This 56-page full report is now available for immediate download.

This document is available for
immediate complimentary download.




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