E-procurement solution for government agencies

Systems integrator AMS and e-commerce vendor Ariba are collaborating on a government-to-business (G2B) e-commerce solution for federal, state and local government agencies.

AMS will implement Ariba eCommerce services and software, beginning with installations at existing AMS federal customer sites, which include the Department of Defense, federal civilian agencies, bureaus and departments, and state and local governments.

Ariba solutions enable an organization to electronically capture and direct purchases over the Web to preferred suppliers; individual buyers use an intranet-based user interface to access product information, create and route purchase requests, place orders and make electronic payments.

Buysense.com, an AMS-hosted Web site built on Ariba networks, will act as a multi-jurisdictional, Web-based marketplace where state and local agencies can cooperatively leverage their buying power.

Demand for such a solution grows from the necessity to increase operating efficiencies by using the Web to consolidate purchases from government suppliers. Approximately $200 billion is spent annually just through the General Services Administration of the federal government to buy goods and services, according to the Federal Procurement Data Systems.

"This partnership marks the first concentrated foray into the large-and largely untapped-market for government-to-business e-commerce," said Tim Minahan, research director of e-business at the Aberdeen Group. "We've seen several e-procurement companies playing at the edges of this space, but the Ariba and AMS partnership is the first to address the public sector with a well-defined solution set and delivery strategy that addresses the unique requirements and challenges of government procurement."

The partners will also identify government-specific services, such as a government bid/quote function, to be added to the Ariba Network platform in the future.

Minahan continued, "Together these companies have the potential to enable the public sector to achieve many of the same benefits that Internet-based commerce has already delivered to companies in the private sector.