Scottish Government partners with ELCOM for its P2P services

Founded in 1992, ELCOM is a provider of supply chain solutions. The company has offices across the UK and in the US. ELCOM’s journey began as a hardware reseller, developing its back-office systems with MIT in the US. That software was the beginning of ELCOM’s PECOS solution. 

After selling the hardware business in the early 2000s, ELCOM centred its focus around its PECOS software solution. 

Since joining the company in 2019, Grant Smith, Chief Operating Officer and Project Director for the PECOS P2P service for the Scottish Government had significant input into the growth of ELCOM’s product offering into a modular end-to-end supply chain solution — which is often referred to as a spend management software-as-a-service (SaaS) solution. 

“The modular aspect of the solution means that the software can be deployed a module at a time, or as an entire end-to-end solution,” says Smith. “These modules cover eSourcing, contract management, catalogue management, procure-to-pay (P2P), inventory management, logistics management, inventory consumption, point of care, data analytics, electronic trading, and the provision of electronic marketplaces.”

Primarily working with the public sector, focusing on central government, health and education, ELCOM has recently launched a suite of supplier modules, which are gaining traction in the private sector. “Those modules cover opportunity alerts, supplier accreditation, bid response management, electronic funding, electronic trading, electronic marketplace, and specialist retail management solutions,” says Smith.

ELCOM and its partnership with the Scottish Government

Working with the Scottish Government, ELCOM provides the software, and in conjunction with Leidos, the supporting services for the PECOS P2P shared service for the Scottish Public sector. 

Smith comments: “The Scottish Government’s eCommerce shared service is internationally regarded as the world’s most successful e-procurement service, and PECOS is a core component of that service. PECOS covers the whole process from requisition through to purchase order, receipting, invoice matching, delivering catalogue content management and electronic trading.”

Does working with a government require different expertise to the private sector?

To answer this question, Smith says: “I think the public and private sector are similar. They both demand the same three outcomes: 1) value for money, 2) customer-centricity, and 3) information and cybersecurity assurance.”

While ELCOM’s customers are primarily from the public sector, the company does have some private sector customers that benefit from our expertise.

Expanding on the three outcomes Smith gives a couple of examples. “The public sector usually awards contacts based on what is called ‘the most economically advantageous tender’, which is a quality-price ratio (Usually 60% to 70% quality, and 30% to 40% price). While the private sector is not as tightly regulated, the sector is still looking for the same value for their stakeholders.”

When it comes to the second outcome customer-centricity, Smith says: “Most of the services we provide cover complex underlying business processes. ELCOM provides tailored solutions that require time commitments with customers by listening to and understanding their needs and delivering solutions ahead of their expectations.”

Finally, information and cybersecurity. “ELCOM’s solutions are well equipped to securely scale to large volumes of data,” says Smith, “For example, for the Scottish Government we process in excess of GBP£7bn of Scottish public sector spend each year, which requires robust information and cybersecurity systems and processes.”

Elcom and its future with the Scottish Government

Over the last 20 years, Elcom has developed a strategic partnership with the Scottish Government. “This partnership has resulted in innovative solutions that deliver value for the Scottish public sector, the Scottish taxpayer, and local Scottish communities,” says Smith.

“We don't stand still though. We plan to work on further innovations in the form of data analytics, supplier services, supply chain funding, and the practical application of artificial intelligence that we're certain will deliver even more value for the Scottish Government and the wider Scottish economy.” 

READ THE FULL SCOTTISH GOVERNMENT REPORT HERE