UKprocure Systems ARTICLE

January 2010

Business Report

The market for eEnablement services started to move in 2007 and by 2010 there is alot of activity. NHS Trusts were receptive to the message that large business benefits can be gained from using a service provider to handle Catalogues and transmit Purchase Orders and Invoices. eMarketplaces are not just about catalogues – they are about delivering electronic Purchase Orders as well, turning those ePOs into electronic Invoices, and transmitting the invoices into your Accounts Payable system. It is increasingly accepted that without all three steps you do not really have eProcurement. Another growing realization is that if your issue is invoice matching, standalone eInvoicing is not the solution for you.

in 2010 We are introducing a Supplier Self Service portal to allow Suppliers to select eProcurement Supply services appropriate to their needs with payment by Credit Card - there will never be a faster way of becoming an approved supplier to the NHS.

The challenge remains that only approximately 11% of NHS Trusts have any form of eEnablement service. How much investment could be moved to front line services if all Trusts followed the example of Barts and the London, Royal Surrey, Guys, Plymouth, and Hampshire amongst others? Do Directors of Finance really have control of the commitments to suppliers made daily across their Trusts? What percentage of invoices really matches first time, to a pre-existing PO? What percentage of purchases is made through a best-practice PO process? Are your suppliers getting their orders instantaneously in the format they want, supporting their eCommerce strategy? Do your overhead suppliers have to author an entire special catalogue for you using eClass? Do you have a full suite of catalogues in your eProcurement system, and are they accurate? Do your catalogues only show end users what they should be buying, if control is your policy, or do they support an internal market, if that is your policy? UKprocure Systems is happy to help you answer these questions.

2010 is going to be another exciting year for UKprocure Systems and “eEnablement” in general. UKprocure Systems is looking forward to 2010 from a position of optimism and good customer recommendations. The NHS is moving forward and grasping the benefits of eProcurement.