Cambridge College Graduates to e-Procurement with Coupa Software

Simple, Affordable Online Solution Enables Fast-Growing Educational Institution to Deploy End-to-End Online Purchasing Solution in Only One Week

Foster City, Calif. - July 9, 2007 - Coupa Software today announced that Cambridge College, a Boston-based institution of higher education, has adopted the Coupa eProcurement Enterprise solution to manage and control the purchasing process at the college’s main Cambridge, Mass. campus and seven regional centers in the U.S. and Canada. Coupa’s enterprise purchasing software went live in only one week, and the college began to see tangible value immediately. Today, more than 200 suppliers are already in the college’s new eprocurement system.

Founded to offer flexible educational alternatives to a diverse population of working adults, Cambridge College has outgrown its largely paper-intensive, internally-developed purchasing system. Among other goals, the college set out to establish centralized purchasing, create a consistent audit trail of approvals, and maintain pricing records for regular suppliers, while also allowing departments to maintain purchasing autonomy. Given these needs, its IT department recently initiated a search for a more effective system. After evaluating a number of solutions, the department adopted Coupa’s Web-based eProcurement Enterprise.

“We wanted an e-procurement system that would allow us to automate, standardize, and maintain a historical purchasing database across the college,” said Victor Coutin, Cambridge’s administrator of the Coupa system. “Our key requirements were simplicity, rapid deployment, and affordability. We found all of this, plus a high degree of user acceptance, with the Coupa solution.”

Coupa eProcurement Enterprise enables purchasing managers to streamline and control the entire purchasing lifecycle, including setting buying policies, managing catalogs, and placing requisitions, as well as automating purchase orders, approvals, receiving, and invoicing. Only the Coupa solution integrates an intuitive user interface that enterprise employees actually prefer to manual purchasing processes. Additionally, Coupa eProcurement Enterprise’s community experience—in which employees can add classification tags and provide reviews of products—improves the system as it is used, while also providing constant feedback to purchasing management.

“Pre-Coupa, the purchasing process was cumbersome, slow, and unreliable,” said Gloria Davila, Cambridge College’s IT director. “Staff would submit requisitions via e-mail or phone. IT would complete the appropriate form and forward it on for final approval. Now, users simply log onto our online system and place their orders. The difference between the old and new system has been dramatic from day one and we’re looking forward to harnessing the power of additional Coupa features.”

With Coupa eProcurement Enterprise, Cambridge College has already enjoyed the following benefits:

• Rapid deployment – Cambridge was able to implement Coupa eProcurement Enterprise in only one week. Within two weeks, the college had established online connections to regular suppliers such as Tech Depot, Office Depot, and Office Max. Today, Cambridge has automated relationships with 200 suppliers, a catalog of 200 pre-approved suppliers, and it has begun to build an electronic buying history across the college.
• Ease of use – Most Cambridge buyers were already familiar with online shopping carts, search engines, and user product reviews, making their transition from a paper-based system to the Coupa solution fast and trouble-free. Coupa eProcurement Enterprise’s simple user interface has been enthusiastically embraced by Cambridge College staff in all departments.
• Flexibility – Like any thriving business, Cambridge makes non-catalog purchases. The marketing department, for example, continually contracts with new vendors. The Coupa solution’s Web-based forms have enabled the marketing department to submit requisitions for services ranging from print ads to radio spots—and even transmit MP3 files to radio stations, making it a breeze for staff to easily “re-use” previous mp3 files and PDF ads.
• Web-based architecture – Rather than install software on every desktop, a time-consuming and expensive task, Cambridge was able to roll out the system by simply providing new users with a URL, user name, and password. As the Coupa solution evolves and delivers ever-richer functionality, users will be able to access it in just a few keystrokes.

“Cambridge College is a truly progressive organization with a mission to enrich the lives and boost the earning potential of its students,” said Dave Stephens, founder and CEO of Coupa. “By deploying our enterprise solution, the college is demonstrating its commitment to building value from the bottom up. The ability to centralize and manage purchasing online will allow the college to make the wisest use of its financial resources and leverage the benefits provided by products and technologies from approved vendors.”

About Coupa Software

Coupa provides solutions that simplify purchasing and fulfill the promise of efficient, cost-effective e-procurement for small and mid-size organizations. Built entirely with open source tools and platforms, Coupa solutions combine best-in-class purchasing control and management into products so simple that employees actually prefer using them for their business purchasing needs. Coupa eProcurement Express is the industry’s first freely downloadable solution. Purchasing departments requiring more complex functionality from their purchasing software may choose Coupa eProcurement Enterprise.

For more information please visit www.coupa.com or call 650.585.6306.