xchangewales Programme Wins Award for ‘Delivering Efficiencies’ at the Guardian Government Computing Awards 2010

ProcServe's customer, the Welsh Assembly Government and Value Wales team acknowledged for their Success with the All- Wales eProcurement Marketplace

28th APRIL 2010, LONDON, UK - ProcServe, a leading provider of strategic collaborative procurement and electronic trading solutions, are pleased to announce that their customer, the Welsh Assembly Government, won in the category for ‘Delivering Efficiencies' for their eProcurement xchangewales programme, at this year's Government Computing Awards, sponsored by The Guardian.

The Welsh Assembly Government, in partnership with ProcServe, is changing the way procurement is carried out in Wales. Through its Value Wales Division a programme of work - xchangewales - is underway to create efficiencies in procurement, stimulate greater collaboration amongst buyers and lower the cost of doing business. Key to the programme is eTrading, an online service that allows buyers to manage catalogue content and order goods and services through a wide range of approved framework and privately held electronic catalogues. The xchangewales hub solution is available to all Public Sector bodies including local and central government agencies as well as the NHS and schools across Wales.

Six Public Sector organisations have transformed their procurement process by implementing xchangewales eTrading including Housing Association, Grwp Gwalia, and Caerphilly and Bridgend County Borough Councils, Cardiff City Council, Gwynedd Council* and Torfaen County Council. A further five other organisations are currently implementing eTrading with all aiming to be live in the Summer. In addition NHS Wales, which accounts for 27% of Welsh public sector spend, is implementing the system on a sector wide basis with Cardiff and Vale Local Health Board being the first of its bodies going live shortly.

Mike Melville, xchangewales Programme Manager said, "This is a fantastic achievement for the xchangewales programme and all involved. Our partnerships with leading technology providers, such as ProcServe, enable us to deliver cutting edge eProcurement tools and services to the Public Sector. In turn this supports the delivery of efficiencies and cost benefits to their organisations; savings that can be re-diverted into front line services to benefit the citizens of Wales. We are delighted to have won this award."

Veera Johnson, CEO, ProcServe said "Government Computing's recognition of the quality and value of all the products and services in the xchangewales programme, including eTrading, is enormously important to ProcServe. This is testimony that xchangewales eTrading is a world-class electronic procurement programme, well on the way to becoming a benchmark for other governments. Well done to all involved."

Media Contact:
Cora Byrne, ProcServe
T: +44(0)7889 996 345
E: cora.byrne@procserve.com

Notes to Editors

*Gwynedd Council was recently highly commended for its use of xchangewales eTrading for Schools in the Local Government Chronicle Awards 2010. For more information, please visit www.procserve.com/news-and-events/in-the-press/gwyneddlgcawards2010.html.  

About The Government Computing (GC) Awards
Now in its 14th year, the GC Awards (previously GC Awards for innovation) are the original and most prestigious awards for using technology to raise the game in public services rewarding excellence in public sector IT. They were established to highlight the excellent work done by public servants across the UK, and to disseminate projects' contributions to best practice. The transformational government agenda and the Treasury's demands for efficiency savings have ensured there is still a strong momentum to get more out of IT for public services, and organisations are eager to show where they have risen to the challenge. For more information, please visit www.guardian.co.uk/gcawards.

About xchangewales
xchangewales is a ground breaking programme that aims to deliver the use of electronic procurement products and services across to all Public Sector organisations in Wales, enabling them to source, tender, evaluate, order and pay for goods and services at a click of a button. The electronic tools and web-based services help to improve efficiency, increase productivity and lower the cost of doing business. For more information, please visit www.xchangewales.co.uk.

About ProcServe
ProcServe provides fast, flexible and secure electronic marketplaces and trading connectivity solutions. ProcServe's hosted, custom-branded solutions provide customers with the unique ability to leverage a software-as-a-service solution and maintain their own uniquely branded and configured marketplace. Customers enjoy a faster solution set up, lower cost of maintenance, and a secure environment. ProcServe delivers Zanzibar, OPEN and xchangewales on behalf of the UK Public Sector. For more information, please visit www.procserve.com.