TO BETTER fulfill the purchasing needs of UST offices, the Santo Tomas e-Service Providers (STePS) has started implementing the new i-Procurement (i-Proc) requisition application program, a software that replaced the old E-Requisition (E-Req) program.
The change was brought about by the University’s adoption of an Oracle-based system, which concentrates on developing business application software suitable for large companies. The previous system was Microsoft-based.
Carlos F. Cortez, Jr., STePS assistant director for software development and applications explained that the i-Proc software works better with Oracle.
“If E-Req would still be used under our new Oracle core financials, an integration process would be necessary since E-Req is integrated to the school’s old core financials run by Microsoft,” he said.
Requisition application software programs are available for the use of all academic and non-academic departments of the University. Items such as office supplies, laboratory equipment and hardware can be requested using the software.
“Item requesters” or “requisitioners” from each department in the University can access the i-Proc program online using a username and password provided by STePS.
Cortez also said that Oracle will readily give the University the latest software update when a new version is released, ensuring an up-to-date requisition application program for office use.
Despite an improved software for item requisitions, Cortez pointed out that STePS does not promise smooth transactions all the time. But with a few steps removed in the approval process, Cortez hopes that the requested items would be delivered earlier.
“Even though i-Proc’s response time is proven to be faster, (its efficiency) is still too early to tell because when we were starting with E-Req, its response time was also fast, but slowed down after several years when stored data started to accumulate,” Cortez explained.
Using the requisition application program is similar to online shopping as demonstrated by Cortez to the Varsitarian.
The shopper, or the requisitioner in this case, types the keyword of the item he likes to purchase and browses through the results to pick the item needed.
The item is then added to the “Shopping Cart” and stays there until it is ready for pickup, or the requester cancels the procurement. The requisitioner can also check the status of the items requested.
STePS has released an i-Proc user’s manual for a detailed step-by-step procedure on how to use the new software.
The office also held a seminar to orient UST departments on how the application works.
