Press Release

Radius Financials punches out to the IDeA Marketplace

Integration between Radius' Purchasing Module and the IDeA Marketplace was successfully demonstrated at the recent Radius Seminar – Meeting the Government Agenda.

18 March, 2003, Feltham. Radius today demonstrated an interactive Web Services connection (commonly known as punch-out) between the Radius Financials buy-side Purchasing/e-Procurement Module and IDeA Marketplace. This innovative real-time connection enables requisitioners to search for and select catalogue items on the IDeA Marketplace Web Site, under the direct control of the Radius Financials Purchasing Module. This approach is a significant step forward in widening the usability and appeal of e-Procurement to Local Authorities. Radius and eGovernment Solutions (UK) Ltd. (eGS), who are the private sector partner to IDeA Marketplace, have collaborated to develop the punch-out processes required.

Peter Bradshaw, Business Development Manager for Radius, who spoke at the event, says:

"This new link to IDeA Marketplace enables us to offer our users the option to purchase electronically from a wide range of suppliers via the IDeA Marketplace. This new initiative gives users of Radius Financials Purchasing the option to take advantage of the collective buying opportunities offered by the IDeA Marketplace site, whilst maintaining the tight purchasing control provided by Radius Financials Purchasing.”

Editor's Note

The punch-out technique provides a mechanism to extend the catalogue content available to the requisitioner in Radius Financials Purchasing. When the requisitioner selects items provided by a 'punch-out' supplier, he/she is automatically redirected to the supplier's web site where he/she can browse the supplier’s catalogue. To provide tight control, the underlying sign on and authorisation processes are performed automatically and the user is then presented with the list of goods/services he/she has been authorised to view.

After selecting the required items and pressing the normal 'Purchase' button on the supplier's site, the requisitioner is returned to Radius Financials Purchasing to complete the requisition. At this point the standard authorisation processes are performed to ensure that the user has not exceeded his/her spend limit and that there is sufficient budget available against the General Ledger code(s) selected.

For approved requisitions, an electronic XML order is then automatically generated and sent to the supplier's web site so that the order can be processed and the goods despatched.

The great advantage of this method is that it avoids the maintenance overhead of suppliers sending electronic details of their catalogue to the buying organisation, which then loads it onto its buy-side system. This is of particularly relevant where the catalogue content changes frequently, or where the supplier offers configuration options on its products (e.g. computer hardware suppliers that provide on-line configuration for PCs).

For further information contact:
Marketing Department
Radius Computer Services Ltd.
Tel: 020 8844 2141
e-mail: marketing@radiusplc.co.uk

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