NCDIT continually looks for ways to create greater efficiencies in the IT procurement process. A major goal of the Statewide IT Procurement Office is to reduce errors and the time it takes to complete an IT procurement by eliminating unnecessary human interactions within each of the 10 phases in the eProcurement process.
One initiative that NCDIT has been working on is incorporating intelligent automation to reduce bottlenecks in the IT eProcurement system. The following intelligent automation tasks were completed in July 2024.
- Early in the IT procurement process, after the Enterprise Project Management Office and Statewide IT Procurement Office finish their review and approval tasks, automation marks Phase 1 (identify and validate business need) “Complete” and starts Phase 3 (developing the sourcing event) in the Ariba Sourcing tool. Automation also updates the master sourcing project tracker and sends an email to key stakeholders to advise them of the timeline schedule.
- After all the subtasks have been completed in Phase 3 and Phase 4 (review and approve sourcing event), automation marks the respective phase “Completed” and the next phase “Started.” A contract specialist is also assigned to each phase’s approval workflow.
When Excel dashboards for new IT procurement projects are created in the eProcurement system, automation gathers supplemental information, adds calculated target completion dates and sends a summary email to the Statewide IT Procurement Office for review.
For questions, contact IntelligentAutomationSupport@nc.gov.