The second panel discussion at Hotel News ME’s Procurement Conference highlighted e-procurement practices.
The panel included category lead of Strategic Sourcing and Purchasing at Farah Leisure Parks Management Raman Nathani, procurement manager of Jumeirah at Etihad Towers Radha K Valiathan, and Roopali Khurana, lead procurement management consultant at Arc Blue.
With purchasing process moving online, the experts discuss if new software solutions simplify the buying process.
According to Nathani, online procurement has been recognised as best practice. However, he considers if it is something that stakeholders are requesting for.
Khurana said: “We need to understand why we should consider e-procurement. We need to do pre-qualification before going in for it.”
She admitted that it has been useful and reduces power, although the scale of which it should be used depends on each establishment. She said: “We could decide on what kind of procurement we would like to arrange for online. We could pick a large scale online procurement or small scale depending on our business”
Valiathan said that he doesn’t lean in any direction. He said: “We have to wait and see how the e-procurement is received in the market. We also have to take it slow, purchase small portions and see how it does.”
Khurana agrees and said that to start off the products purchased online should be of low risk and value. “Not vital daliy purchases.”
Nathani concluded reminding his fellow panelists and the audience how the market has been ceaselessly evolving. He said: “We all know the changes happening in the market, and we have to go along with it.”
