Reality returns
13 September 2012
E-procurement was supposed to revolutionise the way companies bought indirect goods and services. But has it happened? Geraint John compares today’s reality with yesterday’s hype, and highlights some of the lessons to be learnt
Back in 1999, great things were being promised for electronic procurement. Here was a technology that could finally bring order to organisations’ vast, but traditionally uncontrollable, spending on indirect goods and services. It was a “no-brainer”, the first and most financially enticing stage of the e-commerce revolution. Not only could the cost of raising a...