Drowning in Procurement Chaos? Let’s Fix It.

Navigating Higher Ed Procurement Challenges at NERCOMP: A Guide for IT and Finance Leaders

Why Procurement is a Critical Issue for IT and Finance Professionals at NERCOMP

The NERCOMP Annual Conference is where higher education IT, finance, and technology leaders gather to explore solutions for modernizing campus operations, improving technology infrastructure, and optimizing procurement strategies.

For CIOs, procurement managers, and financial leaders, one of the most pressing challenges today is how to streamline IT spend, reduce costs, and manage vendors efficiently while maintaining compliance with university policies.

At NERCOMP 2025, institutions will be looking for proven strategies to:

• Optimize IT procurement workflows to reduce waste and inefficiencies.
• Eliminate decentralized, maverick spending across departments.
• Improve vendor management and compliance with higher ed policies.
• Enhance ERP and finance system integrations to create a seamless Source-to-Pay process.

IT procurement isn’t just about buying software or hardware—it’s about making smarter, data-driven decisions that maximize institutional budgets and ensure long-term operational success.

Why IT Procurement is More Complex Than Ever for NERCOMP Institutions

Higher education institutions face unique challenges when it comes to IT procurement, spend management, and vendor selection. The traditional procurement models used by universities often fail to keep pace with the evolving needs of IT and finance departments.

1. Lack of Visibility into IT Spending Across Departments

Most NERCOMP-affiliated universities have multiple departments that procure their own software, hardware, and IT services, often without central oversight. This results in:

• Fragmented vendor contracts across different university units.
• Duplicate or redundant software purchases that waste budgets.
• Limited spend visibility for CIOs and procurement leaders.

Without a centralized procurement platform, universities struggle to track IT purchases, negotiate better vendor terms, and ensure budget efficiency.

2. Challenges in Managing Higher Ed Vendor Contracts & Compliance

Unlike corporations, higher education institutions must follow strict compliance regulations, including federal funding requirements, competitive bidding policies, and contract transparency.

For IT and procurement leaders at NERCOMP-affiliated schools, this means:

• Ensuring that vendor contracts align with institutional policies.
• Managing multiple renewals, licensing agreements, and software subscriptions across different departments.
• Reducing non-compliant IT purchases that bypass procurement policies.

3. The Complexity of Integrating IT Procurement with ERP & Finance Systems

Most NERCOMP institutions use complex ERP systems like Workday, Oracle, or Ellucian Banner for financial management. However, these systems are often not optimized for procurement workflows, leading to:

• Disconnected procurement and finance data, creating inefficiencies.
• Delayed invoice approvals that slow down vendor payments.
• Difficulty enforcing spend policies across university departments.

4. IT Leaders Are Expected to Drive Cost Savings—But Face Resistance

CIOs and IT procurement professionals are under constant pressure to reduce costs while maintaining technology innovation. However, they face pushback from faculty and staff who prefer to purchase their own software and IT services outside of centralized procurement policies.

The result?

• Maverick spending skyrockets as departments make independent purchases.
• Vendors negotiate different pricing models with different departments, leading to inconsistent costs.
• IT teams struggle to track and manage software licensing compliance.

At NERCOMP 2025, procurement and IT leaders will be looking for solutions to streamline software, hardware, and IT services procurement while maintaining financial control.

How NERCOMP Institutions Can Improve IT Spend Management

Higher education institutions need a modern approach to IT and procurement that aligns with the unique challenges of NERCOMP members. Here’s how universities can improve procurement and spend management:

1. Centralize IT Procurement & Vendor Management

NERCOMP-affiliated institutions can gain greater control over IT spending by centralizing procurement workflows.

• Implement a single Source-to-Pay platform that consolidates vendor management, contract tracking, and spend analysis.
• Standardize IT purchasing policies across departments to prevent rogue spending.
• Use data-driven procurement analytics to forecast spending trends and identify cost-saving opportunities.

2. Automate Procurement Workflows to Eliminate Manual Processes

Many NERCOMP institutions still rely on manual purchase order approvals, slowing down procurement cycles and increasing administrative burden. By automating procurement workflows, universities can:

• Reduce approval times for software, hardware, and IT service purchases.
• Improve spend transparency with real-time financial reporting.
• Ensure compliance with higher education procurement policies.

3. Enforce Compliance for Software & IT Services Procurement

To prevent non-compliant IT purchases, universities must enforce clear procurement guidelines.

• Restrict unapproved software purchases and enforce vendor-approved agreements.
• Ensure university-wide software licensing compliance to avoid audits and financial penalties.
• Use automated procurement systems that flag non-compliant purchases before they happen.

4. Integrate Procurement with Finance & ERP Systems

For procurement teams and CIOs at NERCOMP institutions, ERP integration is critical for seamless financial reporting and vendor payments. Universities can:

• Connect Source-to-Pay platforms with Ellucian, Workday, or Oracle for better spend visibility.
• Improve financial forecasting by aligning procurement data with university budgets.
• Streamline vendor payments through automated invoice processing and approval workflows.

Why Meet with Unimarket at NERCOMP 2025?

Unimarket specializes in higher education procurement solutions, helping NERCOMP institutions optimize IT spend, improve vendor management, and integrate procurement with ERP systems.

At NERCOMP 2025, Unimarket representatives will be meeting with CIOs, procurement directors, and finance leaders to discuss:

• Best practices for IT procurement optimization in higher education.
• How to centralize IT and software purchasing to reduce costs.
• Strategies to eliminate decentralized spending and improve compliance.
• How universities can integrate Source-to-Pay solutions with ERP and finance systems.

Let’s Connect at NERCOMP.

Whether you’re looking to modernize procurement processes, improve vendor negotiations, or streamline IT spending, Unimarket is here to help.

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