Trends in e-sourcing IV: Affordability – making your time and money count

According to the CIPS report, another of the most significant inhibitors to e-sourcing adoption in the UK procurement industry is the ‘prohibitive cost of access to software tool’. Monetarily speaking, the increasingly popular delivery method of SaaS (Software as a Service) ensures affordable prices and little or no set-up costs. A well-designed and user-friendly application will also require zero training costs.

The cost in terms of time and effort however is another matter and is largely affected by the user’s approach. Increasingly the buy-in of management and the organisation as a whole are recognised as key to quick and wholesale adoption of e-sourcing. Referring again to the survey conducted by CIPS and Bristol Business School, another major obstacle to the adoption of e-sourcing was ‘lack of senior management support’. Similarly a 2012 report by State of Flux stated that most organisations significantly under utilise their e-sourcing systems.

The authors observed that ‘better communication and stakeholder management appears key to embedding e-sourcing tools and realising a return on the investment in technology. Other key influences on utilisation are company culture, whether e-sourcing is mandated, whether clear templates and processes are set in place and the level of ongoing training and support and internal promotion by the CPO. ‘

Commenting on the report Dominic Hastings, executive consultant at State of Flux said ‘the money and effort put into acquiring the tool is usually far greater than the investment put into embedding processes, communication and training, to ensure efficient and effective utilisation of the tool.’

It should be noted that eSourcing tools with ongoing and freely available support services can help with some of the above goals, further increasing the effectiveness and efficiency of uptake.

Read more:

Trends in e-sourcing I: Easy does it with usability and user adoption
Trends in e-sourcing II: Project management empowering modern procurement professionals
Trends in e-sourcing III: Plugging the hole of indirect spend
Trends in e-sourcing V: SEPA 2014 – matching innovation in e-payments

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