Thought Leadership

Articles

• The future of Apprenticeships
  Steve Bushell explores the future of apprenticeships and how technology is set to play a critical role in connecting young innovators and business.
• Campaign targets £1.2bn software piracy problem in the UK
  

  A national campaign has been launched to tackle widespread software piracy abuse in the UK

• Queen's Award special supplement
  
• What is e-procurement
  In a nutshell, electronic procurement automates manual processes to increase spend visibility, reduce rogue buying and provide a controlled purchasing environment in which efficient transactions with multiple suppliers translate into cost reduction.
• Price discovery
  To enable better buying power buyers and sellers of IT alike need to have the ability to identify price changes up and down in the shortest possible time. The process of price discovery can be facilitated with 'tools' that enable users to investigate, unearth and discover new pricing. For Probrand, price discovery is considered the 'golden fleece' to adding value to customer service and ultimately driving sales.
• The IT market - current climate
  Over the past year the market has been described as the most volatile price and stock period the IT industry has ever seen. This is largely due to the condition of the global economy.
• We think green, we think data!
  Green IT is without doubt firmly cemented to private and public sector transformation agendas as we collectively adopt a corporate social responsibility mantra to make us more sustainable.
• Lack of Green IT measures holding back greening IT movement
  Nearly 80% of IT products on the market have no 'green' measure or accreditation according to research by technology services provider, Probrand. The news qualifies the challenges IT buyers face when under pressure to buy more sustainable and efficient IT products in line with government moves to 'green' UK business with CO2 savings of 32% by 2020.  
• 'G-WHIZ' Ricoh are on the money with Green IT
  Many organisations are on the early roadmap to green, however, one business that has had sustainability at its core for over 30 years is Ricoh. Interestingly enough, this is one organisation that hasn't really been shouting from the tree tops about its green credentials. Magnanimous or missing a trick?
• Collaborate, Collaborate, Collaborate!
  Steve Palmer is an intuitive and award winning operator when it comes to ICT, and green ICT issues. But it is his insight and opinions regarding subject areas like defining what is green ICT and his views on the future direction of green that are particularly interesting.
• IT Procurement Low on Financial Practitioners Agenda
  Whilst industry reports are showing over 80% of financial practitioners acknowledge the importance of IT's role in business growth, FD's are focussing too much time on the benefits of desktop technology rather than on more efficient methods of getting it there in the first place, says procurement specialist, Probrand.
• Getting a grip on the IT market
  For IT buyers, trading within the IT market is about obtaining prices. The IT Index takes daily feeds of price and availability from vendors, distributors and suppliers and populates them within a secure online purchasing dashboard.
• Virtually Green
  27,345,575lbs of Carbon have been saved by reduced plane, car and hotel consumption relating to virtual trade show attendance, says the Virtual Energy Forum.
• Procurement Information Key to Green IT Implementation
  With the business community under pressure to adopt green IT in all its forms, technology services provider, Probrand, is urging buyers to consider the depth and breadth of their supply chain and not just the product to ensure they are buying genuinely green IT.
• 'Recession Beater' Could Help Businesses Weather the Storm
  As the British Chamber of Commerce announces that the chances of avoiding recession are shrinking by the day, many are looking at how to steer a more equitable course. With IT representing one of the largest single and ongoing costs to a business and bankruptcies on the increase, technology services provider, Probrand, is calling on all businesses to evaluate how they buy IT to help unlock nearly £65BN.
• The Best Accreditation in the Business 'Best Practice Best Value'
  With the public and private sectors under pressure to deliver more efficient methods of purchasing more-for-less, buyers are often taking entrepreneurial approaches to meet the demands placed upon them. However, it is a common story that buyers then wrestle to rationalise the value of their purchasing processes to the board or senior financial members of the organisation.
• e-Delivery Team on Green IT Procurement
  As the world's Green IT frenzy continues, e-procurement specialist Peter Robbins talks to key members of the Department for Work and Pensions' EDT, Delivery and Transformation Group Chris Haynes Director and Damien Kennedy, head of business partnerships.
• Leading the green IT debate into procurement
  With the growing prioritisation of sustainability within the public sector, civil servants with responsibility for procurement are under increasing pressure to find IT solutions that help reduce emissions levels.
• UK Businesses Wasting £BNs on Ringing Round For IT
  The great British obsession with 'haggling' is a thing of the past when it comes to buying IT, says Birmingham based technology services provider, Probrand. Shopping around by telephone and manually comparing price and availability for the best deal on IT is an outdated false economy says research program.
• Using seismic shifts in IT categories for long term best value
  With e-procurement fast becoming the tool of choice for buyers looking for best practice, it is the application of these tools and information they provide in relation to market categories and their issues that will deliver long term best value.
• Forecasting and category management - a virtual dimension to procurement according to Probrand MD and procurement specialist Peter Robbins
  Achieving cost reductions on a single purchase like IT is one success. Continuously reducing costs and driving additional performance improvements over a time period is another matter. This requires a combination of granular market data and the skill sets to understand and decipher how historical market dynamics will affect the future management of procurement.
• IT Managers Struggle to Optimise their role due to inefficient purchasing processes
  Research by IT procurement specialist, theITindex.co.uk, has found that IT managers are finding their roles are being marginalised as a result of spending too much time on IT buying and administration tasks.
• Financial practitioners can deliver a best practice best value approach
  Spend visibility has never been higher up the agenda. But controlling the overhead in any organisation, never mind the public sector, can be viewed as the devil's challenge.
• Best Practice Best Value - The procurement reality
  The public sector continues to reach for the 'Best Practice Best Practice' procurement mantra with open arms having been stimulated by the Gershon report and Transformational Government movement. But with several juxtaposition views on how to achieve this purchasing panacea it is becoming increasingly difficult for buyers to cut through the 'fog' and focus on the answer.
• E-Procurement - A Purchasing Panacea?
  Electronic processes at any level can undoubtedly provide efficiency gains but it is the new wave of advanced, robust and user friendly technologies that promise to save time, save money and genuinely add value to the bottom line, according to e-procurement specialist Peter Robbins.
• Learning to use E-Procurement
  e-procurement specialist, Peter Robbins, explores the challenges faced by education establishments in adopting best practice, best value procurement.
• Global Relationship Management for joined up working
  Relationships are at the heart of an organisation's business, be it private or public sector. Yet, it is estimated that nearly half of all councils are still to implement customer service strategies, never mind supplier management strategies.
• Stepping Stones to Joined up Working
  The electronic revolution at the heart of current business process re-engineering has many elements that need consideration, particularly when looking at procurement. But these form part of a bigger 'joined-up' working picture and e-procurement specialist, Peter Robbins, considers what many believe is the public sector's greatest paradigm yet.
• Product Lifecycle Purchasing - Fair Deal for Buyers?
  It is a widely accepted fact that any product from any sector passes through a lifecycle, from development through to introduction and on into decline. However, an often forgotten fact is that as technology ages, so its price quickly comes down in a bid to buoy sales as newer technology is introduced.
• e-procurement: the catalist for change
  Electronic purchasing undoubtedly has its benefits but successful e-procurement is about more than great technology. It is about people, process and change management in equal measure, according to e-procurement specialist, Peter Robbins.
• E-Content is King for E-Procurement Success
  As electronic procurement continues to see the public sector reach for efficiency savings, it is paramount that organisations ensure they are getting the best content possible to enjoy the true added value of a better purchasing process says Peter Robbins.
• Entrepreneurial approach
  An entrepreneurial look at e-procurement by public sector bodies could be the answer to putting them on track for 2006 savings, according to Peter Robbins.
• E-auctions the future but not as we know them
  Electronic auctions are the first step towards making procurement efficiencies but it is the next wave of technology that promises real moves towards a purchasing panacea, according to Peter Robbins.