North Carolina’s Central Procurement Authority Is Among the List of Finalists for the NC Tech Awards | Eastern North Carolina Now

Press Release:

    Raleigh, NC     The NC Department of Administration's Division of Purchase & Contract, the state's central procurement authority, is among the list of finalists for the NC Tech Awards. The Division of Purchase & Contract (P&C) is nominated to receive a Use of Technology Award for its recent upgrade to the NC eProcurement System this summer. P&C is competing against four other North Carolina agencies within the Public Sector Project Category.

    "I am pleased by the work the NC Division of Purchase & Contract is doing to innovate business systems for greater continuity of services, improving the efficiency of the state procurement process," said NC Department of Administration Secretary Machelle Sanders. "The nomination is well deserved as P&C continues to be a leader in modernizing the procurement of goods and services across the state."

    Administered by the North Carolina Technology Association, the annual NC Tech Awards recognizes companies, organizations and individuals for their achievement, innovation and leadership throughout the year. In July, the Division of Purchase & Contract launched an upgrade to the web-based purchasing system, NC eProcurement, transitioning from the on-premise Ariba Buyer 9r1 application to a cloud-based SAP Ariba buying module.

    NC eProcurement is a central hub for participating state agencies, k-12 schools, community colleges, and local governments including counties and municipalities to complete online purchase orders. For many years, NC eProcurement has served as a platform for buyers to aggregate purchases and negotiate prices from suppliers.

    The latest version of the eProcurement system further enhanced user accessibility, improving efficiency and cost savings among participating state agencies, institutions, and local government entities. New updates to the NC eProcurement system include a modernized interface, improved mobile accessibility, and routine updates with new features.

    "The upgrade lends greater flexibility and efficiency among our more than 7,000 state procurement professionals and over 41,000 vendors who rely on the NC eProcurement as the state's purchasing tool," said P&C Director Odessa McGlown. "Since the inception of the eProcurement System in 2001, the system has generated more than six million purchase orders and $48 billion in spend as of July 2020."

    NC eProcurement is self-funded through a 1.75% fee paid by vendors who receive purchase orders for goods through the system. No state appropriated funds have been required to implement and operate the program for 19 years.

    Accompanying P&C as a finalist for the Use of Technology Awards — Public Sector Project Category are the Education Foundation of Caldwell County, NC Department of Health & Human Services, Town of Cary and UNC-Charlotte School of Data Science. In addition to the Use of Technology Awards, the North Carolina Technology Association also presents the Technology Corporate Awards and Individual Awards in various categories. For a complete list of nominees visit the North Carolina Technology Association website for details.

    Winners will be announced virtually in three broadcasts beginning at 4 pm each day on November 17, 18 and 19. To learn more about the new eProcurement upgrade and other P&C initiatives, visit their website for additional information.

• NCDOA Communications
• Department of Administration
• 116 W. Jones Street
• Raleigh, North Carolina 27603