New Information Paradigms - Transformative MetaSystems for Collaborative Teams

Where items or services are purchased outside the preferred process or system: instead of buying from a preferred supplier with which the company has negotiated a contract with discount pricing, an individual goes outside the normal process and purchases that same item at retail. 'Maverick spend' typically results in an individual or department buying an item in an ad-hoc fashion that results in paying a premium for that item.

The PL-cms deters maverick spend by presenting the purchasor with clearly defined responsibilities and procedures. A simple audit of the PL-cms would present the details behind any maverick spend.

Whether or not a specific case of fraud has been identified, the mere suspicion of fraud can tarnish an authority's reputation. Councils are under increasing pressure to minimise the risk of fraud and to prove that reasonable steps have been made in order to achieve this.

User roles and authorisations, workflow procedures and audit control, make the PL-cms's an exceptional tool for fraud prevention.

Communication can often be difficult between departments and also within individual departments. Local Authorities tend to have either a decentralised procurement function with significant resources stretched across the authority, or a departmental reliance on central expertise with no departmental independence. In each case, it can be a challenge to get the right information to the right people. Frequently, important information can take weeks to reach staff in the best position to act upon it. Occasionally, this information does not become available until it is too late to be of any use.

This problem has resulted in some costly mistakes being made. Not only is it damaging to be unaware of all the facts, but valuable opportunities for collaboration can be missed.

The PL-cms eliminates this crucial issue as any authorised user can access all relevant procurement information through a secure login.

Clearly, it is important that information is readily accessible as and when required. Local Athorities are also under pressure to make certain information available under Freedom of Information requests.

The PL-cms specifically addresses these challenges. Customised access levels can be assigned to determine what data the user can view, register and edit. Access levels ensure staff can only work depending on their role (or position) within the organisation. For example, read only access may be given to staff not directly involved with the procurement function but have an interest in such activity. Selected information can easily be uploaded to a public website (see pan-London Contracts Register) if required, and is readily available upon any request made under the Freedom of Information Act.

The very fact that data is captured electronically improves access to management information drastically. The fully searchable nature of the PL-cms enables interested parties to access information that had previously been unavailable or extremely difficult to identify or discover. The saved search reporting facility assists staff whose job requires them to have access to specific kinds of information at any given time.

No more chasing paper trails or trying to figure out which drawer, filing cabinet, file, hard-drive or server contains critical business documentation. All relevant information can be stored and accessed any time, anywhere. (All you need is an internet connection and a login with the necessary access rights.)

An immense administrative effort is required to support and maintain the procurement function. Much of this effort is spent merely trying to search and locate important contract documentation.

The PL-cms represents a dramatic step towards total digitisation of procurement documentation. Due to its highly accessible nature, the PL-cms also eliminates the countless lost hours spent tracking, accessing and presenting important procurement information.