The globalized business world is aggressively competitive and puts forth a very volatile market. In wake of all these circumstances, procurement has attained greater significance. It is no longer just another function in the organizational set up but a plays a very vital role in the success of the enterprise.

1. E-procurement for better B2B and B2C relationships
The globalized business world is aggressively competitive and puts forth a very volatile market. In wake
of all these circumstances, procurement has attained greater significance. It is no longer just another
function in the organizational set up but a plays a very vital role in the success of the enterprise.
Procurement can be defined as the process of acquisition of goods or services at the right price, from
the right source and made available at the right time. The technological era has further helped the
procurement specialists of organizations with electronic method of procurement or e-procurement.
Also known as supplier exchange, this is a business-to-business or business-to-consumer or business-to-
government system of sale and purchase of goods and services done through the Internet or other
networks including the electronic data interchange systems or ERP.
The traditional system of procurement resulted in companies incurring administrative costs which
amounted to more than the costs of items or services purchased. Enterprises therefore work out
measures to mitigate the additional costs incurred. E-procurement done with the help of software
application facilitates supplier management and complex auctions and automates the procurement
process. Further technological innovations have resulted in the development of e-procurement services
which is available on-demand or a software-as-a-service.
An automated procurement process helps to ease the end-to-end workflow of the purchasing process
including order fulfillment, delivery and invoicing, thereby increasing organizational efficiency and
reducing administrative hurdles and costs. Such cloud based e-procurement process integrates the
companies’ buyers, suppliers and relevant systems such as indent management, catalog management,
e-tendering, electronic auctioning, vendor management and contract management in its value network.
The cloud based e-procurement process from leaders in the industry contains among others the
organizational hierarchy, cost centers, managers, administrators, user preferences, accounts and
language of preference depending on the location. Such processes are very helpful to global
organizations with a widespread presence across nations. Besides these processes also includes
management of contracts and agreements, functions for article selection, product comparisons,
verification of deliveries as well as a fully automated post award management procedure and
accounting systems managed as back-office operations.
The eprocurement process which is cloud based provides notable benefits to the organizations in the
form of simplified price list administration, delivery reports based on order management system, end-
to-end display of procurement transactions, automatic verification of the accuracy status of invoices.
The end-to-end control and visibility, cost-effective invoicing and financial review through an eco-
friendly system of reduced printouts provides the companies following an electronic procurement
process an edge over their competitors.
Related Links: After sales service, digital management, cloud processes