e-Procurement implementation: provide support for employees and suppliers

Central to seamless and successful implementation of e-procurement software are two groups of users: employees and suppliers. Encouraging wholehearted buy-in and maintaining support systems to ease transition are crucial.

Following on from our post on making the financial case for converting to e-procurement, we’re looking at how fostering the happiness of both employees and suppliers gives a new e-procurement system a much greater chance to prosper, allowing its benefits to come to fruition. You’ve set the business case for conversion, now it’s time to get the users on board.

1. e-Procurement champions: Designating one or more employees as e-procurement champion to drive the implementation process and to act as a ‘sounding board’ for other employees is strongly recommended.

2. Consultation: Employees with operational responsibility for buying should be consulted on the most appropriate e-procurement system given the procurement needs of the firm.

3. Stakeholder responsiveness: For strategic sourcing to become a reality firms need an e-procurement solution that allows them to build long-term relationships with suppliers.

4. Ongoing monitoring: The successful implementation of an e-procurement system requires that its effects are monitored in the months following its initial rollout.

Read more around these these four aspects of effective e-procurement adoption, along with 13 others, by downloading our free SourceDogg white paper, Converting to e-Procurement: 17 Aspects of Successful Adoption.

Recommended Posts