What is eProcurement?

Eprocurement is the term used to describe electronic methods of conducting business transactions. The 'e' in eprocurement stands for electronic. Eprocurement can be used in every stage of the process. It can begin with the actual sale coming through to the purchaser and end with the customer's invoice and payment.
With the advent of the Internet, many businesses now sell only via computer technology. It is an excellent way for businesses to cut overhead costs and reach a larger customer base. Eprocurement is not only beneficial for businesses; customers can also find this method of purchasing advantageous. They have a wider choice of merchandise and can shop without leaving their home. With a little web research, they can easily find the lowest price when purchasing goods.Specific benefits for a business using eprocurement include modernization, which brings the workplace up to date with the latest marketing and selling methods. It can also help departments manage their supply chain more efficiently. Eprocurement also opens up a diverse range of markets, including tendering bids and reducing costs on government contracts.This type of buying and selling reaches the widest possible marketplace. Many people run businesses from web sites like these. There are little or no overhead costs, but you may need to purchase software applications such as epayment. Epayment is a software tool which deals with electronic invoicing and self-billing. Such software is relatively cheap, and once it is in place the billing procedure takes care of itself.
Eprocurement does not just deal with sales and purchasing. With today's Internet capabilities, it has never been easier, or cheaper, for businesses to market and advertise their products. Instead of costly and time consuming mail shots, a single email can be sent to many customers at a fraction of the price. Even business conferences with staff based all over the world can take place electronically.
There are no limits to what businesses can do using the technology of eprocurement. Almost anything you can think of can be bought or sold using this process. Wholesale buyers can search electronic catalogues for goods, purchase their requisitions and send the goods to their suppliers. The time scales using eprocurement compared to previous methods are extremely quick. In today's fast paced consumer marketplace, no business can afford to underestimate the value of eprocurement.

ERP SOLIDIFIES THE FOUNDATION FOR E-BUSINESS

In a recent survey by Information Week, 66% of IT managers viewed ERP as their most important and strategic platform because it provides a solid
foundation and information backbone for e-business. When ERP and ebusiness are properly implemented, they supercharge each other. E-business is the best vehicle to share business information with partners for creating major B2B synergies (Norris et al., 2000, p. 93). A fully integrated ERP system will capture and create accurate, consistent and timely relevant data,and assist in intelligent business decision-making. The impact of ERP/ebusinessintegration is substantial, ranging from reduced inventory and personnel level to improved order and cash management. It also results in improved customer responsiveness, reduced IT costs and the availability ofresources for value-added activities. The following case is an example where the full integration of ERP with e-business and SCM led to successful business (Sun, 1999; Whiting, 1999):Colgate Palmolive Company, with $9 billion in consumer products business, has five regional divisions in North America, South America, Europe, Asia/Pacific and South Africa. The implementation of SAP R/3 in 1993 helped Colgate reduce its finished inventory by 50% and cut order receipt-to-delivery time for its top 50 customers from 12e to five days.
Because of its tremendous increase in international sales and the
constantly changing manufacturing/distribution model, Colgate integrated
its SCM-called supply network planning with its e-business platform from Sun Microsystems to leverage its existing ERP in early 1998. This supply network planning system together with the vendor-managed inventory (VMI) software helped Colgate-Palmolive manage its inventory at customer sites (such as Kmartdistribution locations). By mid-1999, Colgate implemented the
Web-enabled supply network planning modules in all of its North America manufacturing and distribution facilities. The VMI software was installed at about 70% of the customer facilities, which accounts for half of the company’s sales volume. In the later part of 1999, Colgate implemented the production planning, detailed scheduling and demand planning of supply network modules, and integrated them with SAP sales and service applications and business information warehouse software.Colgate is seeing a clear payoff on improved service to customers and suppliers. Since it achieved manufacturing efficiencies from ERP/e-business, the company has been having single-digit growth on sales revenues and double-digit growth on net income every year(Colgate, 2000). Now, the company is counting on its ERP/ebusiness to further the operating efficiencies.The companies that have successfully implemented ERP systems will become the masters in helping other suppliers to integrate ERP and e-business to create a Web-based extended ERP environment. A well-run Web-enabled ERP system will make the entire value chain very powerful. Examples of successful cases include Sun, IBM, Compaq, Intel and Cisco in the high-tech industry; CitiGroup, Bank of America and Charles Schwab in the financial
services; and Amazon.com in the retail industry.

5 Internet Marketing Techniques

It’s no secret that the internet is a very saturated place. According to Archive.com, if you are planning to put some sort of content on the internet you have 85 billion competitors! Today’s internet users are nothing like the past, gone are days when the internet was used solely for informative purposes only. It should be no surprise to learn that today’s internet users want to be not only informed, but entertained as well.

So if you would like to learn a couple of outrageous marketing techniques that can keep you afloat while others are drowning, then read this article. But if your happy with the hopeless feeling you get when you check your web stats and don’t mind sinking to the bottom of the internet ocean, then why don’t you go ahead and click the red x button in the top right corner.

1. Content
This is by far the most important aspect of getting traffic to your site, I know I know I said outrageous but before you call me a lair let me explain myself. Writing great content is marketing on its own, imagine someone accidentally stumbles on to your site and instantly like whats on it, then its referred to someone else and it starts a chain, then this people often comeback to see if you’ve posted anything to inform and entertain them again. That’s outrageous!! Remember the average internet user has no patience, so always try and keep it has short and interesting as possible

2. Ethical Mind Control
Here you simply create a top list or award in your niche, you can allocate a page for this or simply make a blog post on it. I’ve noticed that most people who write content are often focused on themselves, by focusing on your competitors you are appealing to their egos and insecurities, which they will perceive subconsciously and in return, they will link back to you in some form.

3. Start Page Programs Or Traffic Exchange
This is a technique that even experienced online marketers have forgotten about, these are free programs that will allow you to advertise your site to other members, all you have to do is view other members site. Simple enough and more outrageously its free advertisement!!

4. Killer Headline
Have you been to the grocery store lately? precisely the checkout aisle, well somewhere in between the colorful array of packets of gum and the chapstick you’ll find the tabloids.You cant miss it, glossy finish and outrageous headlines, if I could get all the money I spent on these while waiting impatienly to pay for my groceries; you probably wont be reading this. I spend a fortune on those you know why? Cause the headline gets you and you want to read the juicy details. Your headline should create the same curiosity, force your readers to read the rest of the story.

5. SEO
Search Engine Optimization, well I dont know to much about this to be honest, but the key thing you should know is always tag keywords and have a decent URL and maybe someday you’ll be recoginsed by google. Outrageous right?

The information contained in this article does not guarantee your success, it is purely a guidline to help you with your online success. Ultmately, it is you who will decide if your are to become successful or not, so don’t come knocking at my door when you end up back at your 9 to 5.

SEO - What is Search Engine Optimization (SEO)?

SEO is a fancy term to simply describe how material posted to the Internet is formatted. SEO can be applied to content (text) on websites and blogs, images (pictures), and even the coding “behind the scenes” called "meta data." Meta data consists of descriptive text and phrases that is contained in "meta tags" and affects how the content is read and indexed by search engine robots.

How is SEO Accomplished?


SEO is largely accomplished by writing “meta data.” Meta data are store in “meta tags” and serve as descriptive information about the page, that the site visitor does not see, but search engine robots look for, “read” and interpret, and then use to index your site.

To see an example of a website’s source code which usually lists the meta data, simply right click your mouse while on any webpage and then click “view source.” While some websites do block your ability to see the source in this way, most do not.

To understand meta data you do not have to be able to understand HTML. The fastest way to find meta data (if the source code page is too confusing) in Windows it to:

1.Click “Edit”

2.Click “Find”

3.Enter “meta”

4.Click “Find Next”

Using this technique is a great way to “study” keywords and other meta data that is driving traffic to your competitor’s websites!

SEO is also affected by how you create your content (the information seen on the web or blog page), and even in how you present titles and subtitles. For example, content and paragraph titles (seen on the page) identified as “headers” are weighed as more important than simply putting titles in call capital letters. Titles that have a larger front, or are bolded, also carry more weight.

Important things to consider when developing SEO include:

•Domain Names and Subdomain Names
•URL Names
•Creating Meta Titles
•Meta Descriptions
•Meta Keywords
•Content
•Headers and Titles
•Images and Tables
•Site Index

10 Worst Countries to be a Blogger -

CPJ names the worst online oppressors. Booming online cultures in many Asian and Middle Eastern nations have led to aggressive government repression. Burma leads the dishonor roll.

New York, April 30, 2009—With a military government that severely restricts Internet access and imprisons people for years for posting critical material, Burma is the worst place in the world to be a blogger, the Committee to Protect Journalists says in a new report. CPJ’s “10 Worst Countries to be a Blogger” also identifies a number of countries in the Middle East and Asia where Internet penetration has blossomed and government repression has grown in response.

“Bloggers are at the vanguard of the information revolution and their numbers are expanding rapidly,” said CPJ Executive Director Joel Simon. “But governments are quickly learning how to turn technology against bloggers by censoring and filtering the Internet, restricting online access and mining personal data. When all else fails, the authorities simply jail a few bloggers to intimidate the rest of the online community into silence or self-censorship.”

Turkmen soldiers guard an Internet cafe in Ashgabat. (Reuters)Relying on a mix of detentions, regulations, and intimidation, authorities in Iran, Syria, Saudi Arabia, Tunisia, and Egypt have emerged as the leading online oppressors in the Middle East and North Africa. China and Vietnam, where burgeoning blogging cultures have encountered extensive monitoring and restriction, are among Asia’s worst blogging nations. Cuba and Turkmenistan, nations where Internet access is heavily restricted, round out the dishonor roll.
“The governments on the list are trying to roll back the information revolution, and, for now, they are having success,” Simon added. “Freedom of expression groups, concerned governments, the online community, and technology companies need to come together to defend the rights of bloggers around the world.”

Click here to see detailed report

Video report on Cuban bloggers

 
Blogueros Cubanos from Committee to Protect Journalists on Vimeo.

Please give your thoughts on how to improve the situation

Welcome

Hi guys,
My name is Hardeep Chahal. My blog is all about giving creative solutions to ebusiness issues. Every week there will be a new issue to discuss upon . There will be some interesting news on ebusiness from time to time. I hope to make this blog learning with fun