Georgia to Launch a Statewide E-procurement System

As part of a multimillion-dollar overhaul of purchasing operations in the state government, Georgia purchasing professionals soon will be able to buy products and services using an online shopping catalog.

Beginning in January, the state will begin a rollout to three pilot agencies. After that, officials will be expanding the online catalog to the Peach State's more than 500 purchasing professionals - representing more than 100 state agencies, 35 state universities, 33 vocational/technical schools and around $3.4 billion in annual addressable spend - who will be able to perform flexible searches, compare prices, build a shopping cart and save items as favorites, just as they would on popular Web sites such as Amazon.com.

Cary, N.C.-based e-procurement vendor SciQuest is providing the online catalog as well as some back-end services for the system, which will be integrated with PeopleSoft enterprise resourcing planning (ERP) technology across the state. Georgia's Department of Administrative Services selected SciQuest after a competitive bidding process.

"This really is a leapfrog from where we have been to the utilization of modern Web-based technology, and the most efficient and effective solution that we can find in the marketplace," Tim Gibney, assistant commissioner of procurement for the state of Georgia, told GovPro.com. Read more...