Make Complex Procurement and Materials Management Projects a Breeze with Cloud applications
As online technologies usher in a new frontier for industry, procurement departments are taking note, using cloud applications that transform how procurement teams operate.
The days of rogue receipts, missing invoices, tedious paperwork, and disorganised files are over. Cloud-based procurement is transforming the way modern enterprises get things done, empowering their procurement teams to operate at maximum efficiency.
Cloud Procurement: the New Frontier
Despite technology evolving at a breakneck pace, procurement processes have lagged behind. Legacy systems are outdated and cumbersome, making corporations painfully aware of daily inefficiencies.
Today, innovations in cloud-based procurement are taking the world by storm. Savvy companies are flocking to take advantage of these cost-effective systems that transform complex processes into efficient and agile tasks.
What is Cloud Procurement and How is it Transforming Procurement in 2021 and Beyond?
Cloud-based procurement software allows organisations to store, organise, access, and analyse data in the ‘cloud’ (on a secure server), rather than inputting and storing this data locally on a computer’s hard drive.
Traditional procurement systems are inflexible, often requiring multiple interfaces, access points, devices, and software systems to handle complex procurement procedures. From patched-together systems to the need for inefficient workarounds, traditional procurement systems are burdensome and inefficient.
Cloud procurement centralises all processes, data, stakeholders, and necessary resources into a single location accessible from anywhere with a secure internet connection. This allows for complete oversight and control over every step in the procurement cycle, from sourcing to requisitioning, payment, communications, and more.
Cloud access increases transparency, improves communication, and reduces the risk of errors. It also enables efficient handling, and an organised, centralised, streamlined supply chain. All of this helps to foster a healthy corporate fiscal culture.
Why Organisations are Transitioning to the Cloud
Cloud-Based Procurement: Benefit Overview
- A Cost-Effective Approach to Procurement
In today’s competitive landscape, organisations across every industry are acutely aware of rising costs and expenses. A cloud-based procurement system (SaaS platform) streamlines procurement operations. It also requires minimal upfront investment, no physical IT architecture, and the nimbleness to adapt to evolving needs without major expenses. Above all, procurement in the cloud streamlines operations, reduces or eliminates costly bottlenecks, and enables organisations to take advantage of technological efficiencies.
- Synergistic End-to-End Integration
Outdated procurement systems are often cobbled together in a patchwork of infrastructure, processes, and access points. By contrast, cloud-based procurement melds the entire procurement framework together in a complementary and synergistic way. This offers an end-to-end solution that reduces manual intervention, eliminates outdated redundancies, and streamlines efforts. The result is reduced friction at every step of the process.
- Enhanced Collaboration
Information is power, and with cloud-based procurement systems, data is not only readily accessible but organised in one central hub online. This allows for improved transparency and assists in keeping all involved parties informed, regardless of their location or department.
With everyone on the same page, collaborative decisions are expedited, lowering turnaround times in the ‘procure-to-pay’ cycle.
- Spend Compliance and Accountability
By implementing a cloud-based procurement system, organisations establish a centralised, cohesive space where all parties can act and interact. This contributes to transparency, provides a documented ‘paper trail’ for spend compliance and audits, and improves accountability.
Cloud-based procurement software allows organisations to store, organise, access, and analyse data in the ‘cloud’ (on a secure server), rather than inputting and storing this data locally on a computer’s hard drive.
- Intuitive, Adaptable, and Flexible
Businesses and industry are in a constant state of flux. Changing market conditions, supply and demand economics, and evolving consumer behaviours are just a few factors that drive operational decisions and plans.
Today, organisations need a procurement system that is as agile as they are, capable of scaling and adapting to their needs over time. Cloud-based procurement software enables businesses large and small to simultaneously manage and optimise workflows across their client database. This provides fine-tuned and efficient oversight over the materials necessary for any project or client.
The Next Generation of Third-Party Project-Based Procurement is Here
The cloud is calling and savvy organisations are answering the call. Third-party procurement software in the cloud enables external firms to conceive, design, and manage projects, coordinating with third-party vendors paid directly by the client.
These systems remove the complexities involved with the unique requirements of each client. These range from differing workflows and processes to templates and other individualised elements of the procurement process.
The era of jumbling together a multitude of systems and complex spreadsheets to coordinate procurement processes is over. In the cloud, teams can facilitate the entire process, centralising procurement activities and leveraging a single source of truth for all stakeholders.
Article by Robert Rogers, Current SCM
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