e-Enablement is Critical
Received wisdom is that getting suppliers to do business with you electronically is the most difficult task in delivering eProcurement projects.
"Besides organisational change management, supplier enablement and content management are the most problematic issues for successful e-procurement implementation" (AMR Research).
The issue for eProcurement Scotl@nd is the need to enable a range of suppliers, some of whom may supply more than one participating organisation, and to do so in a way which ensures that suppliers who join do not have to invest too heavily to get the benefits from joining.
The model for supplier e-enablement has been developed based on three key principles:
- Buying organisations are responsible for their suppliers
- Suppliers who are common to a number of buying organisations are approached only by one buying organisation which acts as 'sponsor' of that supplier's e-enablement.
- The approach is made on the basis of a common set of basic documents.
The service should enhance, not interfere in, the buyer-supplier relationship and must ensure that commercially confidential data are not inappropriately disclosed.