Debbie Wilson

I am just wrapping up a tour of several European cities – including Paris, Geneva, Lausanne, Frankfort and Vienna.  It’s always a pleasure to visit clients here but this trip has been especially gratifying.  In past trips, it has generally taken a fair amount of time to work through terminology and concepts with clients so we can have a conversation with a common understanding. For example, I’ll never forget the amazing amount of effort it took eighteen months or so ago to level set with a large European energy company.  

This year, I find our end-user clients are increasingly speaking the same language.  Whether Austria or France, people know what e-sourcing is, and they realize that there is a lot more to e-procurement than electronic invoicing.  How refreshing – the world is really getting smaller. 

I’m particularly intrigued with the EU Peppol project – which has great aspirations to deliver a single data model for purchase order documents and for supplier “dossiers.”  The goal is to facilitate e-procurement across borders.  Good stuff and I am glad to have the opportunity to catch up on European procurement automation trends.