The European e-Business Report The European e ... - empirica

Types of ICT solutions used and procurement processes supported
The European E-Business Report 2005
As a follow-up question to the one on the use of special ICT solutions for e-procurement, firms were
asked which business processes they supported with these systems (see Exhibit 1.3-3). It can be
concluded that those companies that use special ICT solutions make use of them for a broad range of
procurement-related processes rather than only for specific ones.
As can be expected, the vast majority of those firms that have such systems in place use them for
directly ordering goods online from suppliers (about 80%), but also for finding suppliers in the market
(67%). Running requests-for-quotations or proposals (RfQ / RfP) is also a standard practice if e-
procurement systems are used (64%). Furthermore, about 50% of those firms bill invoices from
suppliers electronically, which indicates that the e-procurement system is digitally integrated with
accounting, for example through the company's ERP system. All these findings are to a high degree
consistent across the 10 sectors surveyed.
Exhibit 1.3-3: Procurement processes supported
by special software solutions
0 20 40 60 80 100
Finding suppliers in the market
Running RfQs / RfPs
64
67
Ordering goods or services
81
Running online auctions/negotiations
22
Billing invoices from suppliers
Analysing spend data
49
51
Exhibit 1.3-4: Types of ICT solutions used for e-procurement
0 20 40 60 80 100
Standard software packages
68
Customised software
61
Services provided by ASPs
29
ICT solutions provided by suppliers
34
Functionalities via e-marketplaces
28
RfQ = Request for
Quotation
RfP = Request for
Proposal
ASP = Application Service
Provider.
Base (100%): Firms using
special ICT solutions for
e-procurement.
Weighted by employment.
Source: e-Business
W@tch (2005)
A second follow-up question was which type of specific ICT software solutions or internet-based
services companies used for supporting sourcing and procurement processes (see Exhibit 1.3-4).
Multiple answers were possible and replies show that companies seem to be using different systems
and functionalities. About two thirds of those firms that have special software reported using standard
software packages. About 60% said that they used customised, company-specific ICT solutions. Other
systems, such as software services provided by ASPs (Application-Services-Providers), or
functionalities offered by the suppliers themselves, are used by about 30-35% of companies with
specific ICT solutions for purchasing online.
30