Introduction to Parabilis

In 2006, Southern Universities Purchasing Consortium (SUPC) led a tender exercise following the EU Procurement Directives to find an appropriate e-Procurement system for higher and further education institutions in the UK as well as the Research Councils. The tender included the provision of a comprehensive procure to pay (P2P) solution for those Institutions whose finance systems do not support e-procurement as well as an integrated option for those Institutions wanting to use their existing systems as a ‘front-end’. Many of the leading solution providers responded to the tender and after a comprehensive evaluation process, the contract was awarded to E-Government Solutions (EGS) on the strength of their technology base, sustainability, cost and proven track record in delivering e-marketplaces to the public sector. EGS already provide the IDeA and Blue Light marketplaces to over 80 local authorities and eight police forces. Further information about EGS can be found at http://www.egsgroup.com/parabilis/.

The development and roll-out of Parabilis continues to be carried out on the basis of a shared service. Funding has been provided by the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) under their Leadership Governance and Management fund providing for a co-ordinated implementation of an e-marketplace for use by more than seven institutions and Research Councils. This funding also supports a full-time Supplier Adoption Officer who ensures content from contracted and common use suppliers is available on Parabilis and provides support to the institutions using Parabilis. Assistance with local supplier adoption is also provided for implementing institutions along with overarching system administration.

Best Practice guidance notes have been developed from the experience of implementing Parabilis for the Higher and Further Education sectors so that other institutions can implement an e-procurement system efficiently and effectively. These notes can be found in the Institution and Supplier sections of this website.