Chapter 5. The E-Procurement Software Landscape

Objective

In order to better understand the current trends in Internet-based e-procurement, it is important to review several of the key events that have occurred in the evolution of e-procurement so far:

  • E-procurement came about in the late 1990s as an improvement of EDI technologies and as a way to conduct purchasing transactions over the Internet.

  • Originally based on electronic catalogs, the complexities of catalog maintenance quickly gave rise to third-party hosting.

  • With the expansion of software capabilities, the original one-to-many model gave way to a second, many-to-many model of procurement.

  • The many-to-many model then provided the impetus for entry into the e-procurement arena of many new and powerful parties.


For anyone following the whirlwind developments of the e-procurement world—and that should be nearly everyone in business these days—the e-procurement marketplace must seem incredibly volatile and uncertain. There are sell-side and buy-side application suites, e-procurement networks, vertical and horizontal exchanges, and third-party e-hubs and portals. How can anyone make sense out of the seemingly endless mix of these e-business offerings?

To appreciate the complexity and volatility of this marketplace—and also the potential levels of pro.t up for grabs—it is only necessary to look at the number and types of organizations that are rushing to take part.


To try to add some clarity around the situation, it can help to simply look back over the e-procurement landscape as it developed over the past few years in order to better understand these market machinations.

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