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Blog http://www.evenex.com/blog/ Will the business sector contribute to the digitalization? http://www.evenex.com/blog/796a/ Despite the intentions of previous years of putting an end to it... Bjarne Nordahl 2010-08-15T18:35:00+02:00 Despite the intentions of previous years of putting an end to it, Danish companies have struggled with paper and cumbersome business processes on a daily basis when doing business with the public sector. Just like the burden of reporting to the governmental agencies, business processes are often considered heavy and problematic. And perhaps businesses have lacked the decisive incentive to make their own processes more effective. Unfortunately, this has tied up resources that the companies could utilize much better for other, more value generating tasks. However, as part of its digitalization strategy, the Danish Government has realized a key initiative and introduced its new procurement and invoicing system: IndFak. As any supplier to the public sector knows, sending invoices electronically is already a requirement today. The latest addition allows companies to deliver electronic item catalogues as well as receive electronic orders straight from clients in the public sector – and submit invoices as part of the same process. Without even having to implement complex system adaptations. Introducing these interwoven business processes makes a huge impact indeed. According to Post Denmark’s very conservative calculations, a solution such as IndFak will reduce the CO2 footprint by at least 80 tonnes CO2 a year. That equals the paper consumption from more than 1,500 trees! As General Manager of the IT company Evenex I am truly pleased to find that the Danish Government has taken the lead and established a solution where the Government and its suppliers help each other reap the benefits and gains. That’s because both the client’s and the supplier’s business processes have been interwoven into a coherent and dynamic solution. The new public procurement and invoicing system is comprehensive, yet flexible and easy to use. The supplier makes his items and services available in a digital catalogue, from which the government institutions order them. Once this is done, the supplier can easily submit the order-based invoice straight from the supplier module of the solution. This frees up the supplier’s resources. This solution is the first major one to be founded upon internet-based infrastructure and the new standards for exchanging digital orders, invoices and other business documents – the OIOUBL standards. IndFak was approved by the Danish Agency for Governmental Management (Økonomistyrelsen) in June. And while the first government institutions have already started using the solution, IndFak is being rolled out across the remaining ones. Here and now, using IndFak is mandatory for governmental agencies being serviced by the Service Centre of the Agency for Governmental Management. The plan is to gradually introduce the solution to the rest of the government and its institutions. A similar initiative from the municipalities and regions, whose needs no doubt match those of the government, would have a major impact on the economy. In former times it used to be relatively expensive to link suppliers electronically to government institutions. The new IndFak solution, developed by Evenex for the Agency for Governmental Management, makes the connection a breeze. Using IndFak’s supplier module is a piece of cake. It’s a flexible web solution that supports the supplier’s order and invoicing processes, and which may be integrated with the supplier’s other systems. At the same time, suppliers may also use the solution with their private customers, thus digitalizing all of their commerce partners and maintaining low transaction costs. The question is: Do Danish businesses want to contribute to the digitalization and reap the benefits, too? By actively supporting the initiative together, we can increase competitiveness and help restore the economy. I am pleased to note that the Danish Government has taken the first and pivotal step towards creating a more efficient trade with its many suppliers. Now it’s up to you and your company to decide upon taking the next step, allowing you to unlock the potential of this solution and improve your everyday work and the business sector in general. Today, the opportunity for efficient, digital relations with governmental clients are more tangible than ever before. And I can only recommend that all of you seize this opportunity, so that we may achieve cost savings and reduce our carbon footprint. Best regards, Niels Stenfeldt, General Manager, Evenex.