New Security Rules for the Electronic Health Care Record Incentive Program





Recommended Security Changes

That Secure Messaging is used when doctors communicate with […]

Keeping Electronic Health Records Safe




Why Government eCommerce Over Traditional Procurement?

There are several good reasons.

It has long been known that traditional procurement processes, whether public or private, are often arduous and time consuming. By establishing long-term purchasing contracts with strategic companies and letting junior buyers place delivery orders against those contacts from an online marketplace, senior acquisition professionals are freed to work on major acquisitions. Government eCommerce is also much more economical because online ordering is quick and easy once those contracts are enabled, and establishing multiple contracts for a given commodity also ensures competition and price competitiveness.

Government eCommerce also provides potential visibility into vendor inventories. Using a distributed architecture, online marketplaces can communicate directly with vendors using application integration tools. This allows secure, reliable messaging and data transmission; including elements like order status, back-order information, stock-on-hand, and stock-out data.

The DOD EMALL is an example of Government eCommerce in action. The Defense Logistics Agency’s (DLA) distributed architecture system allows Department of Defense and other Federal Agencies to house long-term contracts and leverage the government’s buying power. DOD EMALL currently maintains over 2000 individual contracts to support more that 60 million items—helping DOD EMALL to exceed $800 million in FY09.

As the world becomes more integrated online, its only logical that governments take proactive measures to keep pace with the private sector. Government eCommerce ensures that Federal, state, and local purchasing stays ahead of the curve.