Click here to receive your FREE subscription to Campus Technology
Project Management
eProcurement Success!
7/1/2008
With key stakeholders and vendors ready to support your eProcurement program, you can turn your attention to the important task of rolling out eProcurement to purchasers (end users) around the institution. Remember: Without enduser buy-in, the system will never be fully utilized, making it dif- ficult to demonstrate eProcurement's full potential.
So, help end users understand their role in making the new system a success and in increasing the program's ROI by sharing, in simple terms, the one-, three-, and five-year procurement plans. Next, as the rollout begins, provide users with regular updates by highlighting key milestones and reinforcing the long-term goal messaging. Finally, engage the campus as you plan for end-user training. You want training to be as smooth and effortless as possible, so ask key faculty and staff members to help you determine the best ways to "teach" the end users about the new system. Also, consider building into your plans the use of training feedback surveys so that you can make adjustments on the fly.
Build Strategic Training
There are several ways to structure end-user training for your new eProcurement system. Much of it depends on how tech-savvy your staff is to begin with, and how your campus typically handles staff training. Some campuses prefer to start with hands-on training in a classroom or computer-lab setting, which enables the procurement team to receive instant feedback. This can be a great way to adjust the training for future sessions.
With your first round of end users trained, your campus can move on to the second training phase, which is a train-thetrainer model within individual departments or colleges. This enables departments to tailor training to address specific purchasing needs and processes within that department. And lastly, you can move on to the final and ongoing training phase: providing end users with 24/7 access to online help programs and web demos that highlight the most commonly used tasks in the eProcurement system.
Leverage Vendor Partners
When you did your homework at the start of the path to eProcurement, you tallied your vendors most readily available to support the program, either via their own systems or through their ability to contribute to ROI reports. Now it's time to work with your partners to cement relationships that will ensure the long-term success of your eProcurement program.
Start by examining the largest vendor contracts your institution has and how you can utilize the vendor partner relationships to expand eProcurement. Also, consider key commodity groups, and how they can supply products to your campus. Both of these segments can provide your campus with critical product information and marketing support to a) help users make the most of your eProcurement system and b) drive sales, resulting in c) better volume contract pricing.
Recommended Reading
- Get Users on Board
- Greening IT
- It's a Zinch
- Meeting up Virtually
- Online Tutorials to the Rescue
Now's the time to use online tutorials to streamline professional development and help desk management.
- Retention Rx
