The State Services Commission is writing off the $2 million cost of developing and piloting the system which would have cost $7.5 million to implement. State Services Minister Trevor Mallard said that although the technology supplied by Auckland firm CGNZ worked well, only a small number of government agencies would benefit in the short term from using the system.
"It is likely that, by the time more agencies are ready to use GoProcure, there will be other alternatives to provide these services and government leadership in this area will no longer be required," he said.
A year ago, a more bullish Mr Mallard said the Government would require all 36 core government departments to use the system to purchase their everyday supplies.
GoProcure was expected to handle several hundred thousand purchases worth $250 million a year and save the Government $6.5 million a year.
It was also expected to reduce the costs of dealing with government buyers for tens of thousands of small and medium-sized businesses.
The project quickly hit hurdles and its scope was reduced in June. It emerged GoProcure would not be used to handle internal procurement processes such as those involved in the receipt of goods.
Last month State Services' e-government unit was hoping the project could be saved, saying six to 10 public sector agencies might be prepared to fund its development.
Some big government agencies, including the police and defence, have their own e-procurement systems which they use to buy from regular suppliers.
Investment in e-procurement was touted as a "no-brainer" during the dot-com boom when specialist vendors such as Ariba claimed customers would see a return on their investment in months rather than years.
CGNZ was building GoProcure using software from US giant Oracle.
Quelle: Stuff, 09.12.2003
