Indiana Community College System Adopts Cost-Cutting e-Procurement Platform

  • By Sharleen Nelson
  • 08/07/13

To reduce purchasing costs, restructure the procure-to-pay process, and better serve its administrators and staff, Ivy Tech Community College of Indiana plans to implement a cloud-based e-procurement and management system.

For the project, Ivy Tech has selected spend management and e-procurement provider ESM Solutions to deploy its spend management platform for sourcing, purchasing, and contract management.

The company's easyPurchase application will integrate with the college system's existing Banner enterprise resource planning (ERP) financial system to allow users to better manage contracts, bids, awards, and orders and provide secure budget and purchasing transactions in a single interface.

Key features include:

  • Dashboard for viewing spend data;
  • Credit card, p-card and purchase order support;
  • Single-and two-level, ad-hoc routing, and multi-dimensional workflows;
  • Desktop and central receiving;
  • Invoice management services;
  • Storeroom, warehouse, electronic form, and textbook management;
  • Custom branding applications;
  • Support for Internet Explorer, Chrome, Firefox, and Safari; and
  • iPad and Android support.

"We needed an affordable e-procurement system with tailorable functionalities and configurations to successfully implement a complete procure-to-pay process according to our business rules," said Mark Husk, chief accounting operations officer at Ivy Tech Community College, in a prepared statement. "ESM Solutions provided us with a cost-effective suite of tools with end to end integration with our Banner financial system."

The largest statewide post-secondary institution with single accreditation in the nation, Ivy Tech Community College of Indiana serves nearly 200,000 students on 31 campuses in 14 regions. Ivy Tech Community College's annual operating budget is approximately $1.5 billion.

For more information about ESM Solutions, visit esmsolutions.com.

About the Author

Sharleen Nelson is a freelance journalist based in Springfield, Oregon. She can be reached at [email protected].

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