- e-procurement (Electronic Procurement)
- The ability to purchase supplies and services through the Internet or through electronic data interchange (EDI.) e-procurement is also sometimes referred to by other terms, such as supplier exchange. The purpose of e-procurement is to improve the processes involved in procure to pay (P2P) and as much as possible automate the transaction, theoretically reducing cost and mitigating the risk for error. Current technology allows the purchaser to identify new suppliers for a specific category of purchasing requirements (e-sourcing), specify services and invite bids (e-tendering or e-Negotiation), host an on-line reverse auction to obtain better pricing (e-reverse auctioning), enable the purchasing of goods or services (e-catalogue, web-shopper, e-MRO), then manage the back office requisition to payment process and monitor the progress of the purchase from the internet (Web-based ERP, e-Commerce, e-Ordering or e-Transaction.)
- e-informing
- Another aspect of e-Procurement but is not directly associated with the purchasing process. e-informing is the process of gathering and distributing purchasing information both from and to internal and external parties, using Internet technology. For example, distributing supplier selection criteria, purchasing procedures or standard terms on an extranet to inform suppliers.
- Spend Analysis
- The means to monitor and report on all purchases made both through e-procurement and through traditional means. eRFx: is an acronym for Electronic Request For [x] - where x can be Proposal (RFP), Quote (RFQ), Information (RFI) or Tender (RFT).