PURCHASING
Government Purchasing Transformed by a
Click of the Mouse
Virginia’s eProcurement Solution
Saving Time and Money
By Susan S. Pollard, APR and Gil Seigler
could. “It used to take me days to
prepare and process purchases and the necessary papers,”
said Patterson. “Now, I just click a link to the eVA site
and start shopping.”
With a program that is about five years
old, it wasn’t that long ago that procurement
professionals worked in an inefficient slow manual and paper
driven process. Before electronic procurement existed in the
Commonwealth, most state agencies main-
tained their own standard list of vendors. And, in most agencies like the Department of General Services, it took more people to process orders.
tained their own standard list of vendors. And, in most agencies like the Department of General Services, it took more people to process orders.
While the process of buyers getting bids
from companies interested in doing business with the state was
often laborious, it wasn’t any easier for the vendors
themselves. Vendors were often limited to buyers they knew or
to the paper postings of business opportunities on the bulletin
boards in purchasing offices. Except for a few very large
suppliers, it was an impossible goal for a business to be
registered and on the bid list with every agency. The inherent
slowness of direct mail didn’t help the process either
because vendors frequently had a short window of opportunity to
prepare and respond to a bid request. Between copy machines and
fax machines moving as fast as possible, both buyers and
vendors were in a constant rush to meet procurement deadlines.
Time and money add up. Let’s
consider the process government buyers were required to follow.
Factor in the time lost searching for the best product at the
best price, the time the order sat on someone’s desk
waiting for approval, and the usual delays caused by mailing
the order to a vendor despite the buyers’ best efforts;
the impact on an organization was significant. However,
government purchasing procedures are necessary, and purchases
made by agencies of the Commonwealth are required for them to
satisfy their mission and keep their agencies operating.
Gil Seigler is formerly the Department of
General Services eCommerce Outreach Manager in the DGS Division
of Purchases and Supply.
Susan Pollard is the Department
of General Services Director of Communications.
of General Services Director of Communications.
When Ed Patterson shops online he keys in
the items
he wishes to purchase and clicks the mouse a few times. He doesn’t have to worry about whether he got the best quality or the best price, because he already knows. Wishing we all had that crystal ball to know what deals are out there in order to find the so called best bang for your buck, Virginia now uses a tool that is even better and much more reliable: eVA the state’s electronic procurement system. You see, when Ed Patterson goes shopping his efficiency matters because he is a buyer for the Department of General Services Division of Purchase and Supply. Like other buyers throughout the state his buying decisions affect us all. With as much as $5 billion being spent yearly on goods and services for the state, it is no wonder there has been an initiative over the past five years to transform how the Commonwealth purchases its products and services.
he wishes to purchase and clicks the mouse a few times. He doesn’t have to worry about whether he got the best quality or the best price, because he already knows. Wishing we all had that crystal ball to know what deals are out there in order to find the so called best bang for your buck, Virginia now uses a tool that is even better and much more reliable: eVA the state’s electronic procurement system. You see, when Ed Patterson goes shopping his efficiency matters because he is a buyer for the Department of General Services Division of Purchase and Supply. Like other buyers throughout the state his buying decisions affect us all. With as much as $5 billion being spent yearly on goods and services for the state, it is no wonder there has been an initiative over the past five years to transform how the Commonwealth purchases its products and services.
The eVA (pronounced like the name “Eva”)
has significantly increased government procurement efficiency
by enabling buyers to get goods and services faster, cheaper,
and with a lot less paperwork. However, the state’s
purchasing process hasn’t always run as efficiently as it