GE
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Technology giant exerts control over global supplier information
GE’s implementation of supplier information management software from SaaS provider Aravo has only recently been implemented. But it warrants a profile, as the global roll-out of an on-demand capability by a company whose business practices are considered to be world leading is a considerable endorsement for the model.
The technology and services giant has over 50,000 suppliers, and until 2004 it used multiple, separate applications to manage these relationships within various geographies – an approach that was impacting efficiency. But at the time, there was no solution that could have supported single-supplier information management on the scale that GE required.
Eventually, in 2008, GE came across Aravo. It offered the ability to centrally manage the information required of its suppliers in a way that could be rolled out across the globe.
And the application could be pushed out to suppliers themselves, so that they can now update and edit the relevant information held in GE’s repository over the web.
It was the combination of extensibility with centralised information management that attracted GE to Aravo, not an ideological sympathy for SaaS. However, the IT infrastructure cost that GE has cut by going SaaS has been considerable.
Even at this early stage (the project was rolled out in October 2008) GE is already convinced of its success. “We are confident that the return on investment is not just positive,” says Brad Sweeney, manager of GE’s shared sourcing services. “It’s massively positive.
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