One small step for Commerce One SA

By Basheera Khan, UK correspondent, ITWeb

Johannesburg, , 05 Jul 2000

Commerce One SA`s MarketSite portal, which was launched in March, today facilitated its first commercial transactions carried out by Sasol, one of the largest producers of synthetic fuels and chemical products.

The transaction generated purchase orders from stationery supplier Adrico using the Commerce One BuySite e-procurement application, and marks a milestone achievement in phase one of Commerce One`s MarketSite initiative.

"We`ll have 50 users online by end July, and we expect to have 200 users and four suppliers [online] by 25 August, with about 20 more suppliers coming on board by end September," explains Andrew Murray, project manager, Commerce One SA. "We estimate a completed roll out of the system across the 22 organisations that comprise the Sasol group in an 18 to 24 month period."

One of the challenges to rolling out, says Murray, is the integration between the various enterprise resource planning systems used within the Sasol group. "It`s a major task not to be underestimated."

PQ Chem`s Neon middleware product is being used to this end. The PQ Africa company will also be involved in training Sasol staff.

"Our value proposition to Sasol entailed migrating all their paper-based transactions to an electronic platform, and automating their transactions, which would shorten purchasing times and save money through the supply chain."

PricewaterhouseCoopers` e-business division aided Sasol in formulating its e-business strategy, and is taking a lead role in this pilot project. Richard Mackinnon-Little, e-business director at PricewaterhouseCoopers, believes Sasol`s proactive response to e-business and e-procurement can influence the development of e-business in SA. "We`re seeing the potential for huge movement in the next 18 months," he says.

Commerce One SA is expected to announce a new investor and several new partners in weeks to come. "We believe partnering is the only way to grow this market," says Derek Lubner, Commerce One SA`s marketing director.