SciQuest Customer Wins 2008 Best Practice Award for Strategic Procurement Initiative
Back to News ReleasesCARY, N.C. October 15, 2008 - SciQuest, Inc., the global leader empowering enterprises to realize the potential of strategic procurement, today announced that its customer William M. (Bill) Cooper, associate vice president and chief procurement officer at the University of Missouri, has won the CACUBO RBC Capital Markets Best Practices award for his department's strategic approach to procurement. Mr. Cooper was honored at the Central Association of College and University Business Officers' (CACUBO) Annual Meeting, October 12-14 in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, where he also presented his winning proposal.
"This is a great honor for our department and the University, as it brings to light the benefits that a more strategic procurement function can have on the quality of life and services across campus," said Cooper. "By gaining greater visibility into enterprise-wide spending, reducing the costs of goods and services, streamlining outdated processes and eliminating off-contract purchases, the University has realized more than $24.3 million in savings from our transformation."
In an effort to promote and recognize new approaches to the problems facing college and university business operations, RBC Capital Markets joined with CACUBO to host the CACUBO RBC Capital Markets Best Practices Award Program. This award recognizes colleges and universities that have successfully developed a best practice in response to a particular problem and showcases successful efforts to create better, more efficient and customer-friendly business practices.
"The procurement transformation that Mr. Cooper and his team at the University of Missouri have achieved offers a great example of the impact this department can have campus-wide - as it touches nearly everyone," said Ron Lostetter, president of CACUBO. "These are the best practices that we seek to honor in this awards program, and to help colleges and universities share in their successes as well as challenges. We are pleased to give this award to Mr. Cooper and congratulate him on his achievement in advancing the procurement operations at the University of Missouri."
SciQuest Plays Key Role the University's Procurement Transformation
The University of Missouri sought to re-engineer its procurement function from a transaction-oriented "order shop" to a strategic supply-chain support center that could help the University recapture millions of dollars and provide higher value services, such as pre-negotiated contracts and sourcing assistance for on-demand needs. This multi-phase effort incorporated several key directives, such as consolidating the disparate procurement operations and policies, and implementing an ERP system.
The other critical component was to implement an eprocurement solution that could easily integrate with the University's ERP system, create a central online marketplace that would engage its user and supplier populations, and further eliminate paper-driven activities.
SciQuest was selected to provide an interactive Web-based eprocurement environment where all types of users can easily search for and buy the goods and services they need. SciQuest was also selected for its uniquely modular approach and SaaS-based deployment model, which made it easy for the University to integrate SciQuest's online shopping component with and extend the capabilities of its existing ERP system, thus providing a seamless, end-to-end procurement transformation.
"With the rollout of our SciQuest eprocurement system recently completed - the final stage of our multi-year plan - we expect to save millions more by providing the mechanism through which our strategic procurement strategy can be achieved," added Cooper. "We have already saved more than $7 million through better negotiated rates from the first wave of suppliers, which we expect to multiply as we bring on the rest of our marketplace supplier base."
In addition to the University of Missouri, SciQuest procurement automation and supplier enablement solutions serve more than 70 of the best known colleges and universities, such as Pennsylvania State University, the University of Michigan, the University of Notre Dame, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University and Yale University.
"We are thrilled that Bill Cooper and his team have received this recognition," said Stephen Wiehe, SciQuest's president and CEO. "Certainly Bill is one of the leading innovators in this area, who realizes the benefits that procurement automation can provide in the way of cost-savings, and improved services and efficiencies that enable institutions to direct more of their human and financial resources towards the pursuit of academic and educational excellence. Bill has done a wonderful job realizing the potential of strategic procurement, and we look forward to our continued strong relationship serving the University of Missouri."
About SciQuest
SciQuest's procurement automation and supplier enablement solutions empower leading organizations to realize the potential of strategic procurement. The company's specialized knowledge, on-demand software, and service-first approach enable public and private enterprises across the globe to manage spend, drive ROI, and advance their critical missions.
SciQuest's deep understanding of its served vertical markets combined with a broad supplier network and intuitive, online shopping experience increase user and contract adoption while improving operational efficiencies. Through software-as-a-service (SaaS) deployment, organizations can quickly implement the right eprocurement solution to augment existing ERP investments or fully enable all aspects of purchasing from sourcing to settlement.
For more information about SciQuest, please visit www.sciquest.com or call 877-710-0413 in the U.S. or +44 1794 341182 in Europe.
SciQuest is a registered trademark of SciQuest, Inc. Other trademarks contained herein remain the property of their respective owners.
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