Staffware and Biomni have formed a strategic alliance to develop the first "workflow-enhanced" e-procurement solution with scalable, fully automated, self-service functionality.
Staffware`s alliance with Biomni is part of Staffware`s eProcurement vision to become a leader in the eProcurement market in multiple vertical sectors.
The combined Staffware/Biomni eProcurement solution, suitable for businesses of all sizes, has the competitive advantage of enabling employees to order and fulfil items from their desktops allowing the procurement department to spend more time on developing supplier relationships and procurement strategies rather than chasing purchase orders and invoices. The enhanced workflow, not present in other eProcurement solutions, allows parallel approvals to take place for orders and requests, speeding up the time-to-desk of employees` orders and further reducing the acquisition costs associated with purchasing business items.
Staffware`s rules based workflow engine will combine with Biomni`s eProcurement software to:
Link with the company`s Intranet to enable employees to check the latest price and availability of items, reserve business travel or monitor budgets.
Facilitate even the largest of purchases that traditionally require a special or complex approvals process.
Eliminate "rogue purchases" by taking in to account pre-defined authority levels.
Provide the company with strict procurement control, allowing the procurement department to spend more time on developing supplier relationships and procurement strategies rather than chasing purchase orders and invoices.
Allow access to on-line supplier catalogues for real-time ordering of products and services from a list of pre-defined items with agreed volume discounts.
Provide complete flexibility for the company to immediately implement changes to their approval or supplier processes.
Deliver cost reductions due to saved time and elimination of administration overheads.
Staffware and Biomni expect to launch the new solution in April 2001.
The news of the alliance follows Staffware`s recent launch of four new business divisions dedicated to developing solutions for today`s eBusiness markets. One of the new divisions is eProcurement, the other three are eCRM, eBanking, and Supply Chain Management/New Product Development.
John O`Connell, Chairman and CEO of Staffware said: "We are delighted to announce this alliance with Biomni, who operate the largest procurement electronic network in Europe. Our workflow engine will inject a flexible and scalable process driven capability initially into the current buy-side functionality of the Biomni product set. Combining with Biomni to develop a unique e-procurement service at a time when such dramatic growth in demand for self-service e-procurement solutions is forecasted, provides us with the potential to drive sales in to many new organizations and markets."
Angus Gregory, CEO of Biomni stated: "The development of this solution has been driven by the needs of our customers. It became apparent that what our customers really wanted was a comprehensive authorization process for their purchasing activities, to make raising requisitions even easier and speed up their approach to buying. We chose Staffware to help us achieve this goal because of the sophistication and flexibility of its workflow solution and its experience in self-service, or B2E (business-to-employee) solutions. "
The forecasted growth of the e-procurement market is huge, with Gartner group predicting that the value of transactions procured by businesses using the Internet will be around lb7.3 trillion in the year 2004. This compares to a figure of just lb145 billion for 1999.
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Biomni
Biomni is a leading provider of e-procurement solutions, offering buyers and suppliers the benefit of tried and tested software supported by a comprehensive range of services. Founded in November 1999 as a 50/50 joint venture between Computacenter plc and Computasoft Ltd, with the benefit of ten years` experience, Biomni manages the largest e-procurement trading community in Europe.
Committed to meeting the needs of its customers, Biomni provides flexible solutions based on secure architecture that can easily be integrated into existing enterprise systems. The Biomni purchasing solution Directa, supplier gateway Provida and transaction engine Connecta, enable organizations to realize the substantial cost savings and competitive advantage of a successful e-procurement strategy.
Based in the UK, with five regional support areas and resources in mainland Europe, Biomni has a range of customers, suppliers and partners operating within its community. Over 2000 European organizations are currently supported by Biomni solutions in the public and private sectors. More than 700 suppliers are accessed through Biomni`s transaction engine, which handles over 50,000 transactions each working day. More information on Biomni can be found at its web site: www.biomni.com
Staffware Plc
Staffware is the founder and market leader of the business process automation industry specializing in workflow automation and eBusiness solutions. Staffware`s software, which automates, manages and streamlines entire business processes, already has 1.3 million licensed users across the world in industries including banking, insurance, telecommunications, utilities and government for their Enterprise wide applications.
Managing the process of eBusiness, Staffware also develops integrated solutions for the eCRM, eBanking, eProcurement and New Product Development markets. This enables its customers and partners to achieve measurable benefits from its solutions spanning enterprise and internet applications globally.
Staffware employs over 400 people world-wide with offices in 17 countries supported by a global network of partners covering all major business centers of the world. It has grown sixfold in the last 5 years.