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VENDOR/BUYER CONFERENCE
BY DON HARRIS
Diana Kerfoot Cindi Hostetler Michelle Hamilton
It’s Easy and Beneficial to Use E-Procurement
If you’re not using technology to the fullest in the A lot of tasks are done automatically,
procurement profession, you may be missing out on an
easier and more efficient way to do your job. tasks that we used to do by hand.”
– Michelle Hamilton
In a breakout session at the AASBO Vendor/Buyer
Conference, Diana Kerfoot, Tucson Unified School
Districtt; Cindi Hostetler, Tempe Union School District; Hamilton said her system enables her to build
and Michelle Hamilton, Mesa Public Schools, spelled collaborators and create RFPs. “We can build our full
out the benefits of E-procurement for AASBO members RFP in the system, not on a separate document,” she said.
and vendors and how to avoid some of the pitfalls. “Functionality is different across different platforms.”
Among the E Procurement Systems available are: AZ Perks of technology in procurement include electronic
Purchasing.org; Bonfire; Opengov; and Collaborative document sharing, maintaining templates and files,
Software, which includes Google Docs and One Drive. having an electronic list of vendors, and the ease of
For video conferences, try Google Hangouts, Webex, or collection and distribution.
Zoom.
Hamilton explained that the three panelists each use When it comes to the creation of solicitations, you are
a different a program. “The purpose was not to show able to upload solicitation documents. It’s all template
the advantages of one vendor over another, but the based – you can keep track of the scope of work from
advantages of each system depends on what you’re creation to approval. You also have easy access to
looking for, what you need,” she said. pricing worksheets and bid tables.
One of the systems enables you to issue and receive On solicitation, you have electronic distribution of all
documents electronically, but it doesn’t evaluate them. documents, notifications for amendments, an enhanced
“Tempe’s system can issue and receive and evaluate listing of vendors, and vendor tracking. Vendor
electronically,” Hamilton said. In addition, it enables communication is improved, as is calendar and timeline
tracking for solicitation events. And, there is a single
you to create a bid on your desktop and save the PDF.
point of communication – always a plus.
Regarding electronic submissions, advantages
include time stamps, reports electronic notarization of
vendors, and itemized criteria. And when it comes to
the evaluation and awarding of a contract, it provides
an electronic and tiered evaluation. You are able to
assign access levels to different people or evaluator
groups. Scoring is done electronically, and electronic
signatures of committee-member statements regarding
non-collusion are included. At the conclusion, the award
is publicly posted and letters are emailed to the winners
and the non-winners, all electronically.
So what are the perks for vendors? “It saves a ton of
money for vendors,” Hamilton aid. “With the old
paper system, if you had ten people on the evaluation
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