Accenture bets on e-procurement
- By Dibya Sarkar
- Jun 26, 2001
After helping develop several successful state government e-procurement
systems, Accenture has hired two public purchasing veterans to bolster its
place in the market.
Bill Kilmartin, who most recently worked for American Management Systems
Inc.' e-procurement unit, and David Gragan, former national director of
Oracle Corp.'s government e-procurement division, will manage the strategic
growth and direction of the public-sector e-procurement business, said David
Grubb, an Accenture partner who heads the company's global government supply-chain
service unit.
Accenture has developed e-procurement systems for Michigan, North Carolina
and California.
Grubb said both Kilmartin and Gragan are considered pioneers in e-procurement,
a status that makes an impression on clients.
For 10 years, Kilmartin was state comptroller of Massachusetts, where
he helped pioneer the E-Mall project (www.state.ma.us/emall),
a multistate effort for an online outlet mall where governments can browse,
order and buy goods at low prices.
Gragan, who has served as purchasing director for Texas and Indiana,
is chairman of the National Institute of Governmental Purchasing Inc.'s
technology task force and serves on an e-procurement working group of the
National Electronic Commerce Coordinating Council.
Grubb said e-procurement systems have been around in the private sector
for several years, and have really begun catching on in the public sector
in the past 18 months. The savings potential, he said, is significant not
only because of lower prices of products and services, but also in the administrative
processes.
California's e-procurement system (www.calbuy.ca.gov),
launched in March, was the latest developed by Accenture. So far only three
departments are participating in the system, although it recently expanded
access to more than 270 vendors and 5,000 products.
When all 200 or so agencies begin to participate, the state estimates
it would save nearly $10 million on more than 265,000 purchase orders. There
are plans to extend the system to municipalities and other jurisdictions
in about a year.