E-sourcing ou E-procurement ?
The use of IT tools has made it possible to improve purchasing management and the procedures essential to the smooth running of the company. These purchasing tools include e-sourcing and e-procurement. The latter improve companies’ purchasing processes and provide strategic performance indicators. To ensure that these management tools are effective and generate added value for your purchasing organisation, it is essential to choose them carefully. To achieve this, we’re going to take a closer look at them in this article and review the criteria that need to be defined in order to make the right choice.
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Understanding e-procurement and e-sourcing
E-procurement is the use of an online supplier to meet a company’s needs. It’s much more practical than the traditional way of doing business purchasing, which is to go to a physical location. It reduces the company’s cost centres and optimises the purchasing process. On the other hand, the supplier no longer has to go through various people to meet the purchasing needs of its customers. The order is clear, in line with internal requirements, and electronic invoicing ensures rapid processing.
E-sourcing refers to all the practices involved in selecting suppliers. In purchasing, sourcing means looking for suppliers. E-sourcing solutions facilitate this work, which requires attention to a multitude of criteria. As well as developing a good knowledge of the supplier market, these management tools secure the information to be sought in order to comply with the company’s purchasing policy and its interests.
Purchasing management for a company involves a number of related tasks, such as :
- Monitoring changes in expenditure,
- Analysing the information obtained to optimise the purchasing strategy,
- Managing and negotiating supplier contracts,
- Monitoring the supplier market, etc.
There are several software packages available today that can optimise these tasks and add value to more traditional management.
The ease of use of the tools on offer
E-procurement, like e-sourcing, involves the use of various IT tools. The role of e-procurement is to make a company’s purchasing function easier and more efficient. A platform that offers this, but with tools that are complicated and difficult to use, is not fully fulfilling its role. You therefore need to ensure that you are as comfortable as possible with the e-procurement software so that its acquisition is profitable in the long term. If user adoption is not achieved, you are taking a risk for your company.
And that’s exactly what we want to avoid. The same principles apply to e-sourcing, and the tools at your disposal should not be too complicated to learn. On the other hand, this may conflict with the solutions available on the market. For example, ERP-type software is very effective for purchasing. But the investment and deployment time required are disproportionate to the challenges faced by small and medium-sized businesses. These solutions are the most difficult to use, and you will need to set aside a training budget for your staff, as well as a budget for consultants. The more functions there are, the more complex the software is likely to be to use. That’s why you need to think things through carefully and be aware of the features you want, because e-procurement and e-sourcing tools can often do the job.
The concept of the UI or user interface plays an important role in the creation of software for both individuals and businesses. What’s important is that it’s easy to use, but also enjoyable. User navigation must be pleasant and the service smooth to use. If e-procurement software has a good user interface, it will be easier to use on a daily basis. The same applies to e-sourcing tools. With today’s changing attitudes, this aspect is essential, if not primordial. Ensuring the comfort of your human resources and an ergonomic working environment must extend to the use of IT tools.
One of the most important points is that crucial information must be well arranged and easily accessible. The various buttons and other elements that enable the software to be used must also be placed in the right places. Even if a software package has some interesting features, it isn’t very useful if its user interface isn’t optimised. That’s why a demo version is offered to potential buyers before they make up their minds.
Avoid overspending
To ensure the quality of their offers, but also to be profitable, e-procurement platforms offer their services at various prices. It’s essential that you take the time to compare the offers available before deciding on one of them. And it’s not just the prices on offer that you need to pay attention to – the quality of the service also counts for a lot.
The same applies to the e-sourcing tools available to you. For a specific need, you can find dozens of software packages, each with its own specific features and price. There’s no need to rush, and on the contrary, you should take your time to evaluate the product before deciding to buy it. SaaS solutions generally include service updates in their price, which is a key differentiator from more traditional software.
With the right e-sourcing and e-procurement tools, you can be sure of creating the right conditions for optimising your purchasing process, and it’s up to you to make the right choices. With Weproc, give yourself the opportunity to make the best possible and most informed decisions for your company’s purchasing function.
Want to learn more about our procurement management software Weproc? Contact us or request your free 15-minutes demo below!
Weproc is a SaaS software specialized in digitizing the procurement process of companies. From purchase requests to supplier invoicing, through the validation process, Weproc is designed to simplify the purchase management of SMEs and mid-sized companies by centralizing all purchase-related activities.