WIREDGOV

Zanzibar wins prestigious management award

OGCBUYING.SOLUTIONS News Release (Ref. ZAN09/05) issued by The Government News Network on 9 May 2008

Zanzibar, the Government's strategic eMarketplace and Purchase to Pay (P2P) system, has picked up a top prize at the prestigious 2008 MCA Management Awards dinner held in London on April 28.

The Zanzibar Managed Service, operated by OGCbuying.solutions and delivered by ProcServe, won outright in the Management Consultancies Association's Operational Performance category.

The accolade follows a period of significant growth in the use of the eProcurement tool by public sector organisations. The Welsh Assembly Government recently announced the launch of its xchangewales online purchasing system, based on the Zanzibar platform.

Meanwhile the Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF) has confirmed that it is to make OPEN - the online marketplace for schools, also based on Zanzibar - ready and available to all 20,500 schools in England from Spring 2008.

And the Department for Communities and Local Government chose Zanzibar to support their drive towards improving their procurement processes.

By bringing together government contracts in a single platform, Zanzibar enables collaboration across all public sector buying organisations and provides access to the best pricing and transaction-ready suppliers.

Robert Knapman, Director of eCommerce, OGCbuying.solutions, said: "We are delighted to have won in this category. The team have worked hard to deliver this groundbreaking service, so this is a fantastic reward for all the hard work.

"eProcurement generally and Zanzibar in particular are at the heart of OGCbuying.solutions' new category management approach to collaborative procurement.

"Zanzibar mobilises public sector buying power. It makes eProcurement easier, it's flexible, it can be adopted speedily, it widens engagement and provides control for users. And, because we have been through a rigorous development period with the inevitable technological challenges, we now have a tried and tested, leading edge product."

For more information about Zanzibar, go to http://www.ogcbuyingsolutions.gov.uk

Ends

Note to Editor

OGCbuying.solutions is the trading arm of the Office of Government Commerce (OGC), which is itself an office of HM Treasury.

The Office of Government Commerce is responsible for improving value for money by driving up standards and capability in procurement, from commodity buying to the delivery of major capital projects, maximising the effective use of 60% of Government spending and a £30 billion property estate. For more details, visit the OGC website on: http://www.ogc.gov.uk

OGCbuying.solutions provides public sector procurement professionals with a route to the products and services they need to maximise procurement efficiency and value for money. Its contracts and framework agreements offer substantial savings through significant buying power, economies of scale and strategic partnerships.

Rigorous tendering and evaluation processes ensure that products and services are checked for quality, price competitiveness, fitness for purpose and compliance with statutory requirements. These products and services are available through OGCbuying.solutions' framework agreements, managed services and other procurement arrangements.

More details are available on the website: http://www.ogcbuyingsolutions.gov.uk

Zanzibar - the basics

For public sector buyers in England Wales and Northern Ireland Zanzibar delivers:

* An electronic marketplace that can operate alongside existing electronic procurement processes

* The ability to exchange electronic documents with suppliers, including purchase orders and invoices

* An electronic supplier catalogue system that allows suppliers to create catalogues and allows buyers to approve and access suppliers content and pricing

* Access to collaborative contracts across all government organisations

* An optional purchase to pay system, or the ability to connect easily to existing purchase to pay systems, including Proactis, SAP, Oracle, Cedar, Sage, Agresso, Belmin, and many others

* A secure, hosted and managed service, with ongoing support for buyers and suppliers

* Detailed procurement management information and reporting tools

Public sector organisations benefit by:

* Reducing costs and errors by eliminating administrative and manual procurement process, including catalogue management and paper transactions

* Enabling better value for money decisions by providing access to extensive supplier pricing and product information

* Improving procurement visibility by supplying comprehensive management information and reporting on spend levels and patterns

* Removing the risk of joining Zanzibar by providing a solution that has been thoroughly tested and approved

* Delivering robust marketplace and electronic transaction functionality without the need for a capital outlay or dedicated IT resources

* Extending the life of electronic procurement investments by integrating with existing purchase to pay systems

About ProcServe

ProcServe, a wholly owned subsidiary of PA Consulting Group, provides fast, flexible and secure electronic marketplaces and trading connectivity solutions. ProcServe's hosted, custom-branded solutions provide customers with the unique ability to leverage a software-as-a-service solution and maintain their own uniquely branded and configured marketplace. Customers enjoy a faster solution set up, lower cost of maintenance, and a secure environment. ProcServe also delivers OPEN and xchangewales on behalf of the UK Public Sector. For more information, please visit http://www.procserve.com.