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Welcome to OPEN |
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Frequently Asked Questions General FAQs
Buyer FAQs
Supplier FAQs
General FAQs What is the OPEN Marketplace for Schools? OPEN is the Online Procurement for Educational Needs marketplace for schools. It is a new eProcurement system designed specifically for schools. It will allow them the opportunity to purchase and pay for goods and services online in an easy to use and effective manner. OPEN will allow users to easily and securely access their local contracts and eCatalogues for goods and services, as well as provide them access to regional and national contracts that could offer increased value for money. How does the OPEN Marketplace for Schools work? The marketplace has five key elements:
ProcServe, a PA Consulting Group Company has been contracted by DCSF to deliver OPEN, the marketplace for schools. Where do I go for further information? If you are a buyer and require further information, please send an email to schools.eprocurement@dcsf.gsi.gov.uk and a member of the team will respond to you shortly. To register your interest if you are a supplier, please email suppliers.eprocurement@dcsf.gsi.gov.uk Please include your name, organisation and contact details. How does OPEN interact or conflict with other eProcurement systems? The Marketplace been uniquely developed to address the needs of schools both short and longer term and can integrate with their existing FMS (Financial Management Systems) and other finance systems, such as Capita. It has been developed very much inline with the longer term strategy of Becta – to standardise ICT delivery in schools. What do I need to do to join OPEN? OPEN has been set up to make it easy for schools to join. It is more than a traditional eMarketplace; it's a complete eProcurement service for your school, providing a number of supplier engagement services. Depending on the suppliers' capability, this is a true electronic seamless service from buyer to supplier. Before being able to join, a supplier needs to be invited by a school or Local Authority that is subscribing to OPEN. Suppliers will then be guided through the process. Do I need any special software or IT equipment? Suppliers only need access to the Internet via a PC to register for OPEN. Suppliers can then select how to receive orders. We recommend you receive these online in the OPEN supplier secure Internet site as you will then be able to manage all your orders in one place. You will quickly and easily be able to convert order documents into shipping notes and invoices to be received immediately by customers without incurring any postage costs. However, you can also choose to receive orders by email, SMS text message, fax or post. OPEN is accessible and user-friendly for both larger and smaller suppliers; you can connect to OPEN from a home office. The service offers benefits to all suppliers of subscribing buying organisations regardless of size, technical capability and location and is FREE OF CHARGE Schools will also be able to access OPEN via the Internet. As part of the setup PASSL will work with schools to determine the users in your school that will require access to OPEN. These users will then be provided with a password to access OPEN. If you are a supplier and you are invited to join OPEN, you will be provided with a username and password to complete the registration on Zanzibar the UK Public Sector eMarketplace. If you forget your password, you can ask the system to generate a new one from the OPEN logon page. Alternatively, please contact the OPEN helpdesk. How is OPEN being tested for reliability and appropriateness? In spring 2007 a group of ‘pathfinder’ schools and Local Authorities started rigorously testing the system for reliability, appropriateness and ease of use, before OPEN is rolled out to the wider school community. Can colleges or universities participate? Not at the present time, although there may be future scope for such a system. Buyer FAQs What are the benefits of schools using OPEN? eProcurement has real and significant benefits for schools. It can provide spend intelligence so schools know what they are buying and how much it really costs. It allows access for users to pre-approved supplier maintained eCatalogues and DCSF approved deals. This will ensure that schools have access to collaborative contracts at regional and national level. OPEN is a flexible and managed service that is tailored specifically to the needs of schools. Schools purchasers will have access to better information to help them make an informed decision that is right for their needs. When will schools have access to OPEN? The first pilot phase – the pathfinders – started in spring 2007. In late 2007, following successful completion of the Pathfinder phase, the rollout of OPEN will start to all maintained schools in England who wish to participate. Following the Gershon review in 2004, the education system has been set an efficiency target of £1.05bn to be achieved by March 2008. More efficient procurement practices and effective spending in schools will play a major part in achieving these savings. Schools don’t have to use OPEN but we hope it will prove to be an attractive option for many to increase buying power. No, but we hope that it will prove to be an attractive option for many to increase buying power. Schools that do not already benefit from an eProcurement solution may wish to take advantage of OPEN. Will someone train schools how to use OPEN? Yes, training will be available. What about security of schools details whilst using OPEN? The eMarketplace is an eGov Level 2 security accredited, hosted, and managed eProcurement service that can be conveniently accessed by buyers and suppliers alike. OPEN will employ security measures to protect your information from access by unauthorised persons and against unlawful processing, accidental loss, destruction and damage. Isn’t this just another way of increasing my workload? This will actually reduce the time usually taken to purchase goods and services by schools. Obviously there will be some time needed at the start to get used to the system but ultimately the aim of this eProcurement system is to save time, increase opportunity to make savings and give purchasers wider choice. How will this affect current contracts I have with my suppliers? It won’t. You can choose to keep your existing contracts with any suppliers who may not be on the system. However, if you think they offer real value for money for your school and perhaps others too, you may want to nominate that supplier to join the OPEN marketplace. They can offer their contracts much more widely, enabling everyone to take advantage of the opportunity for making savings. I have a preferred supplier – will they be on OPEN? It depends. Suppliers from the pathfinder areas will be on the system straight away, many larger national suppliers will have been captured during this process, so there will be choice straight away for schools to purchase what they need at a price that works for them. Some suppliers however, such as small local ones, may not be on the system. You can nominate them to be added to the system at any time so others can avail of the good deals that they offer. Or, you can continue to purchase goods and services from them in your usual way. It’s up to you. Can anyone sign up to be part of OPEN? All maintained schools in England can sign up to use OPEN. Only suppliers sponsored to join the OPEN schools marketplace by their existing public sector customer(s) will be invited to join. If you are invited, your organisation will receive a letter or email detailing how to register with OPEN. What does it cost to join OPEN? Funding has been secured from DCSF to pay all OPEN school charges up to March 2011. What support is there for me: online, customer services helpline or guidance pack? For both suppliers and schools, we will be running regular Internet based online training sessions. You will be provided with technical documentation, user guides and other online resources once you have joined OPEN, when you have either been invited to become an OPEN supplier, or you are a school and wish to start purchasing. For schools, there is a help desk and a full managed service that will support your technical queries and will provide ongoing setup, user management, administration, ecatalogue administration and supplier adoption needs. Will all schools be on the system? Not immediately. There will be a pilot phase at first, to ensure the system runs smoothly and is appropriate for schools and suppliers alike. OPEN will then be accessible for all maintained schools in England to participate if they wish. Supplier FAQs What are the benefits for suppliers using OPEN? There are no charges for connection to the system and no charges for uploading and maintaining content. It will lower the cost of transacting with schools by providing a single point of catalogue provision and transaction as well as streamlining back office processes. Subject to nomination, suppliers will have access to purchasers from schools all over England, to offer contracts for goods and services not just to existing clients, but potentially new ones also. The technology is user-friendly, so the system is easy to use both for suppliers and purchasers alike. OPEN will enable improved, streamlined payment and reduced back-office administration for schools, which will be a real benefit for users, and suppliers can make savings as a result of online trading, by reducing administration and removing the cost of printing and posting invoices and statements. Some suppliers may also wish to invest in integrating their back office systems with OPEN to reduce administration within their own organisation. For suppliers there is only one site to upload catalogues to and these can be made visible to all customers. So there’s no need to contact each and every school or purchaser individually, OPEN will allow you to do that in one place. Supplier adoption and ‘eEnablement’ are included as part of the overall service, and there is a fully functional supplier self service portal that lets any supplier transact completely electronically. Of course word of mouth is great advertisement for a supplier. OPEN allows current users to comment on the services and goods the supplier offers, to advise and inform other potential buyers. I’m a supplier – how do I join OPEN? Any supplier must be nominated either by a school or a Local Authority using OPEN. In addition to this Local Authority preferred suppliers who have schools using the marketplace will also qualify for inclusion. If you are nominated, your organisation will receive a letter or email detailing how to register. How do suppliers promote contracts? The ability for suppliers to promote contracts within OPEN can be done online through the portal as every supplier has the ability to highlight offers through their online catalogue or ‘punch-out’ to individual sites. How long does the registration process take? You will be contacted by your sponsoring school or by PA Shared Services Limited (PASSL). You may also be asked to fill in a questionnaire to determine your current online trading capability. The length of time it will take to set your business up will depend upon how you decide to trade with us using OPEN. Using the basic tools, it will take only the length of time to register on the Supplier Portal and to load a catalogue price list on the system via the self service upload tool once your registration is confirmed. Following that your customer’s contract manager will verify that your catalogue has loaded correctly and you will be set-up to trade, via the supplier portal, email or XML integration. How do suppliers load their catalogues onto the system? Suppliers with catalogues will be provided with an ecatalogue template for completion. This ecatalogue will be loaded and can be made available to all relevant schools on OPEN. What support is there for me: online, customer services helpline or guidance pack? For both suppliers and schools, we will be running regular Internet based online training sessions. You will be provided with technical documentation, user guides and other online resources once you have joined OPEN, when you have either been invited to become an OPEN supplier, or you are a school and wish to start purchasing. For suppliers, you may also be invited to attend a special supplier e-enablement forum. In addition to the downloadable supplier information packs within the OPEN supplier site there is a supplier helpdesk if you experience technical difficulties. |
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