That’s where web-based e-procurement platforms have a chance to shine. By creating a portal for faculty, staff and (in some cases) students to replace their own broken devices with college-approved replacements, IT teams can free up time and have an easy answer to any request they may field: It’s all on the portal. That’s a far cry from what many institutions have been doing traditionally and may even still be doing today.
“Many of ServiceNow’s higher education customers previously managed their procurement processes through homegrown solutions comprising various software applications, shared email inboxes and tracking spreadsheets, all with manual approval processes,” says Shannon Cobourn, global head of mission solutions in the education and nonprofit sectors at ServiceNow, which offers one of the leading procurement platforms for higher education.
Obviously, that kind of patchwork solution is far from ideal, so if your institution is looking to tune up its well-oiled machine with an online procurement portal, here are some helpful tips to make it happen.
1. Fully Understand Your Current Procurement Processes
It’s hard to fix something if you don’t know exactly how it’s broken. Transitioning to an all-encompassing online procurement platform can be a complicated process if significant attention isn’t paid to the procurement processes currently in place at an institution. There will be rules to establish, permissions to assign and technology choices to be made, and they must be done in the best interests of the college, the users and the IT staff.
“Institutions should conduct a thorough assessment of their existing procurement processes and identify bottlenecks or gaps in technologies,” Cobourn says. “It’s crucial to document institutional guidelines and policies for purchasing to ensure compliance with regulatory agencies and budget constraints.”
Some procurement platforms, including ServiceNow’s Source-to-Pay Operations solution, also offer back-end tools for procurement and IT staff related to vendor management, invoicing and more. These implementations help optimize the entire procurement process, make reporting easier and simplify the experience for end users, likely increasing adoption by staff and reducing the number of questions that will be volleyed back to IT or procurement teams.
“Regular monitoring and evaluation of procurement process performance through reporting can help identify areas for further optimization, ultimately driving greater efficiency and cost savings across the institution,” Cobourn says.
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