Roadblock 4: Your eProcurement System is Not Integrated into the Organization

In every business system, you can have a lot of roadblocks that will be a hindrance for you to reach success. However, in every possible roadblock, you can use different procedures in order to solve and fix it. Let’s look at the eProcurement System a business or organization chooses to use. There are a number of roadblocks that prevent an eProcurement system from working to its full potential and a number of possible solutions. One of the most common roadblocks facing any company with an eProcurement system is that it is not integrated into that organization fully and completely.

The business world today is changing at an even more rapid pace. Due to this fact, eProcurement systems should be able to adapt and change at that same rate of change or be left behind. When procurement processes and policies change the system has to keep up. Even employees who primarily operate within a different software system based on their department would do well to ensure the eProcurement system is kept up to date as it will in turn help remove hindrances to their own systems. Procurement processes such as oversight, analysis and shopping should be readily available to adapt and adjust. In the event that the eProcurement system is not flexible enough employees will determine that it is simply too much of an inconvenience to the rest of the business operation. When that happens the end result is poor adoption rates. However, even those businesses that seem to everything in order and the most flexible system possible to adapt to quick changes may run into problems if all that flexibility means high cost maintenance. It may even degrade the agility of business if they require IT personnel to come into the picture to implement that flexibility with changes in contracts, shipping terms or payment.

Proper eProcurement deployment is essential to have full integration in the organization. Demonstrating confidence within the system is also very important especially if backed by upper management. If upper management sets the tone from the very beginning that will trickle down through all levels. As the system is deployed the vendor should provide in depth, thorough training. Vendors must also provide training going forward and not simply stop after deployment. That training must be amendable and adaptable as the business changes and evolves.

Although improper integration of eProcurement systems into organizations is a commons and significant roadblock, it is very possible for you to get through this problem.