November 16, 2001—A new study of the e-procurement marketplace issued by Frost & Sullivan, an international marketing consulting company, underlines that in-house, self-service e-procurement applications will continue to be implemented by companies looking to automate requisitions, approvals, and purchases of maintenance, repair, and operating (MRO) goods.
Indirect e-procurement solutions, the study found, remain “a double-edged sword for contenders in the European business-to-business software realm.”
Other findings:
- Success in the e-procurement market hinges on a number of factors, including the ability to attract partners to complement, distribute, and roll out solutions as well as manage e-catalogues.
- The creation of online digital content is of paramount importance to the development of the European e-procurement market.
- The complexities associated with the compilation of supplier product information and converting it into e-catalogues to perform transactions is becoming increasingly prevalent.
- The lack of universal standards has, to date, hampered the large-scale deployment of e-procurement applications. Conformity with standards is vital to the e-procurement market’s growth prospects.
- Vendors must accommodate these standards in an effort to bring exploitation of disparate vertical markets closer to reality.
- Software vendors have to focus their efforts on educating the user market on the substantial cost benefits e-procurement offers, as well as persuade the higher echelons of business to “e-volve.”
- As the user market becomes more knowledgeable and sophisticated, it will be looking to adopt the e-procurement solution providing superior integration into their supply chains and processes, moving away from narrow solutions.
For more information, contact Frost & Sullivan.
