In this fast-moving digital era, businesses are racing to embrace digital transformation to remain agile and competitive to protect themselves against a wider and more acute range of potential shocks and disruptive events. Most jobs have been fundamentally impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic and the key areas of the business such as marketing, sales, and customer service have been greater hit. Employees have had to learn how to complete tasks remotely by using digital tools to communicate with colleagues and clients.
Data Accuracy for Effective Spend Analysis
As COVID-19 continues to cause disruption across the globe, we are beginning to see the next wave of changes for the procurement process. While the issue is ongoing, businesses can concurrently build new capabilities and ways of working that deliver continued value to customers, partners and shareholders. Traditional procurement operating models have been proven to no longer be feasible. ‘Business-as-usual’ approaches are no longer enough for procurement functions if they are to continue operating effectively and achieving the right results. [1]
Hence having a reliable, proven and trusted platform such as SESAMI to carry on with the day to day procurement process is crucial when majority of employees worldwide are adopting the workfrom home approach. There is also a need for accurate data when conducting electronic procurement, this then helps guide businesses in the daily decision-making process through the necessary analytics done on the trusted and accurate data sources. If there is no data traceability, it can lead businesses to make costly mistakes. The ability of the platform to integrate server to server to allow businesses to transact seamlessly with their clients is an added advantage to minimise the need for data entry which gives rise to higher possibility of errors.
The Flexibility of E-Procurement: 24/7 Accessibility to Data
An E-Procurement platform should have the flexibility of allowing buyers and suppliers to access the required procurement data wherever they are and whenever it is needed. For instance, suppliers can download RFQs/Tenders documentation online without needing them to collect physically. Subsequently, it also eliminates the need for suppliers to deliver any hardcopy submission physically to buyers. This allows everyone involved in the whole RFQ/Tender process to continue working effectively, conveniently and safely within their homes which helps in the containment of the virus and also what is seen as being morally right. Receiving RFP/Tender submissions is also a more efficient use of buyers’ time and resources. Buyers can track and manage submissions easily and access them in any location.
The Sooner or Later Issue
A growing number of businesses are adapting to the online process each year, as the benefits become increasingly apparent and the process itself more familiar. Businesses can free up resources from tedious file management, extend the reach of their RFP/Tender and avoid process delays caused by any unprecedented circumstances we are currently experiencing with COVID-19.[2] Given these direct benefits, we can safely say that E-Procurement is here to stay. SESAMi has been a trusted provider of E-Procurement and E-Marketplace solutions and services to our clientele of ever growing industry leaders for over 20 years, enabling buyers and suppliers to search, match, connect and transact with each other. With our comprehensive and flexible solution, it allows full or partial automation of the Source-to-Pay procurement process with the added capability for server to server integrations with leading ERPs via SESAMi Connect integration suite for interoperability and full end to end process automation. Most importantly, buyers and suppliers can easily access to SESAMi portal anytime and anywhere. To learn more about SESAMi E-Procurement, please email to customercare@sesami.com
[1] Supply Chain Digital, 25 May 2020 "COVID-19 Fuels The Next Wave Of Change In Procurement"
[2] Colliers Project Leaders, 14 April 2020 "The Benefits of E-Procurement During COVID-19"