University taps SciQuest to automate sourcing, spend management activities
Research Triangle Park, NC — April 22, 2004 — New Mexico State University has signed a multi-year agreement to use a supplier relationship management (SRM) from educational market specialist SciQuest as part of an initiative to improve the school's operations.
The university will use SciQuest's HigherMarkets suite of hosted SRM solutions, including Spend Director, Requisition Manager and Sourcing Manager. The university plans to integrate these modules into its existing SCT Banner Finance solution from SunGard SCT.
"New Mexico State is performing a major systems overhaul to improve our administrative technology infrastructure and capabilities," said Michael Hites, vice provost and chief information officer at the school. "SciQuest's HigherMarket solution will allow for a fast implementation, a seamless integration with SCT Banner and will require limited information technology resources to maintain."
SciQuest said that HigherMarkets is designed to meet the unique needs of colleges and universities seeking to improve purchasing processes to reduce costs, improve productivity and increase visibility into organizational spend.
"HigherMarkets is a proven solution that has been effective at a wide range of universities and colleges," said Mike Abernathy, director of purchasing and risk management administration at the university. "As a state institution faced with financial pressures, it was an easy decision to invest in technology that not only automates our processes but helps us control spend and better manage institutional resources."
The integration of HigherMarkets with SCT Banner, utilizing the SCT Luminis Data Integration for e-Procurement solution, enables a single point of purchasing for the faculty and staff who carry out institutional business for the university. This integration supports "real-time validation" of the corresponding general ledger and financial management information in Banner Finance. The solution enables Web requisitioning for goods and services, as well as access to suppliers with whom the university has negotiated strategic agreements.
By utilizing SciQuest's Sourcing Manager module from the HigherMarkets suite, the university will be able to create, issue, monitor and award informal quotes and formal bid requests. The solution provider says that the Sourcing Manager automates the processes of bid tabulation and inviting vendors, freeing procurement professionals of paperwork.
SciQuest's other higher education clients include Arizona State University, Indiana University, University of Michigan and University of Pennsylvania. The company recently announced that it was being acquired by an investment fund and was going private. (See related story.)
