e-Procurement: From Strategy to Implementation

Enterprise Versus E-Market Models

It is probably safe to bet that, at least in the next five years, neither secure one-to-many enterprise solutions nor third-party sponsored electronic trading communities will completely disappear, nor will they completely dominate the e-procurement marketplace. Although the early successes of the e-marketplace made many enthusiasts predict a complete shutdown of the enterprise-owned, one-to-many model, it seems unlikely that this will happen. To the contrary, fears concerning reliability, security, and overcoming cultural hesitancy to sever trusted trading relationships with individual suppliers have meant that in the U.S.—and to an even greater extent in Europe—senior management has been hesitant to move toward ...