By ADAM GIFFORD
Telecom is about to eat its own cooking, commissioning esolutions, its joint venture with EDS and Microsoft, to develop an online procurement portal.
The portal, using Ariba ORMX software, will allow its preferred suppliers to transact online with Telecom's internal users.
Eight of Telecom's suppliers have signed up to participate: Fuji Xerox, Wickliffe Press, OTC Workplace Partners, NZ Liquor, Marshall Promotions, Moore Gallagher, Eurest NZ and Cafe Express.
Rachel Lee, Telecom's online purchasing project manager, says business-to-business electronic procurement is ideal for the sort of high-volume, low-value transactions done with such suppliers.
The esolutions BusinessExchange will lower Telecom's procurement costs and increase marketing and revenue opportunities for suppliers.
"Organisations find they may have a preferred supplier contract, but it may only be used by 5 per cent of staff. People continue to use another supplier because they think it's easier, or they go to a mate ... With this, Telecom will be able to direct all requests to the preferred supplier."
While she would not specify the exact amount Telecom expected to save, she said online transaction costs could be a tenth of the cost of paper-based, people-intensive systems.
Telecom plans to bring the portal live on May 15.
It will be hosted by Telecom, which along with AAPT has an agreement with Ariba allowing it to offer its technology on an ASP (application service provider) model.
Telecom tries a taste of its own medicine
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