eProcureAI / Platform / For IT teams

Role

A procurement rollout
that is not your project

Finance wants procurement software. You want to know what it costs you in hosting, setup work and support tickets. The honest answer to all three is very little.

Written for the team who gets asked to support it. Not for the team buying it.

What IT is asked forHosting
The situation

Every business system eventually becomes an IT problem

A department buys software. Six months later IT owns the upkeep, the access requests, the support tickets and the upgrade that nobody scheduled.

That pattern is why IT teams are sceptical about procurement software, and the scepticism is earned. Traditional deployments arrive with a server to stand up, a data model to understand, an authentication scheme that ignores your identity provider, and an access list that grows one ticket at a time.

Then the department that chose it moves on and IT inherits something nobody there understands well enough to support.

What this actually needs from you

Nothing to host. No database to maintain. Authentication through your existing identity provider. Access granted to departments rather than individuals, which means adding somebody is a single choice made by finance rather than a ticket raised with you.

The typical involvement is a single sign on configuration during setup and occasional advice afterwards. Finance owns the system, and the design deliberately keeps it that way.

You get something out of it too

Most IT teams are also the largest software buyers in the business. Renewals calendared with notice periods tracked, security review attached at the point of request, and shadow tools visible in spend data are all things IT usually wants and rarely has.

What IT usually gets asked

Four questions, and the honest answers

Question 1

What do we have to host

Nothing. There is no server, database or scheduled job that becomes your responsibility.

AnswerNothing
1
Question 2

How does authentication work

Through your existing identity provider, so there is no separate password estate to manage.

AnswerSingle sign on
2
Question 3

Who handles access requests

Finance, because access is granted to departments and inherited by their members rather than assigned person by person.

AnswerNot you
3
Question 4

What is the support load

Low. Training is one session per site and the interface is designed so people do not need a second.

AnswerLower than expected
4
What it costs you

Three areas, and the realistic answer for each

Infrastructure, none

There is nothing to run. No servers, no database, no patching cycle and no capacity planning conversation eighteen months from now.

  • No infrastructure to provision or maintain
  • No database schema to understand or support
  • No scheduled jobs to monitor
  • No upgrade project appearing on your roadmap
Infrastructure askLive
ServersNone
DatabaseNone
PatchingNot yours
UpgradesNot a project
Nothing to hostGenuinely

Identity, one configuration

Single sign on through your existing provider, with access following the department a person belongs to. Your leaver process continues to work the way it already does.

  • Authentication through your identity provider
  • Provisioning by department rather than by ticket
  • Leavers handled by your existing process
  • No parallel password estate
IdentityLive
AuthenticationYour provider
ProvisioningBy department
LeaversYour process
Extra password listNone
One setupThen it runs

Support, low and owned elsewhere

Finance owns the system and configures it. Most access questions never reach you because adding somebody to a department applies the right permissions automatically.

  • Finance owns configuration and rules
  • Access changes made without a ticket to IT
  • One training session per site
  • Occasional advice rather than ongoing ownership
Support loadLive
Owned byFinance
Access ticketsFew
TrainingOne session
On your roadmapNo
AdviceRather than ownership
The access model

Why this keeps tickets away from you

The design decision that matters is that permissions belong to departments rather than to individuals.

SituationTraditional approachHere
Somebody joinsTicket to IT to copy another user's accessFinance selects a department, baseline applies
Somebody moves teamTicket to remove old access and add newDepartment changes, permissions follow automatically
Somebody leavesTicket to disable, often delayedHandled by your existing leaver process
A new capability is addedTickets from everyone who needs itAdded to the relevant department baselines once
An access review is dueIT exports and interpretsFinance exports the matrix themselves

Each row is a ticket that does not get raised, which is the practical difference between owning a system and hosting one.

What IT gains

Six things that help your own buying

Renewals

Calendared with notice periods

The notice period matters more than the renewal date, and it is the field most registers omit.

TrackedBoth dates
Utilisation

Seats against actual use

So the renewal conversation starts from a number rather than an assumption.

ComparedBefore renewal
Security review

Attached at intake

The questionnaire arrives with the request rather than surfacing at contract stage.

TimingEarly
Shadow tools

Visible in spend data

Recurring charges that never went through procurement, surfaced rather than discovered.

SurfacedBy category
Overlap

Three tools, one job

Different teams solving the same problem separately, obvious once spend is grouped.

VisibleBy category
Ownership

A named person per tool

So the alert reaches somebody who can decide rather than a shared mailbox.

NamedPer agreement
Who does what

The short version of your involvement

The test of a well designed business system is how rarely IT has to think about it, and that was a design goal here.

What IT does

A single sign on configuration, and occasional advice. That is close to the whole ask.

The human partLive
Configure single sign onOnce, during setup
Advise on identityWhere asked
Review securityAs you would any vendor
Use it for your own buyingLike everyone else
One configurationNot a project

What eProcureAI does

Everything else, with finance owning the configuration rather than you.

The automatic partLive
Host and maintainNot your infrastructure
Apply accessBy department
Follow your leaver processThrough your provider
Track your renewalsWith notice periods
Surface shadow toolsIn spend data
Owned by financeSupported by us
0to host, patch or capacity plan
0single sign on, then it runs
0access granted and inherited rather than ticketed
0of training per site
FAQ

Questions people actually ask

What infrastructure do we need to provide?
None. There are no servers, no database and no scheduled jobs that become your responsibility, and no upgrade project that appears on your roadmap later.
How does authentication work?
Through your existing identity provider using single sign on, so there is no separate password estate and your existing leaver process continues to apply.
Who handles access requests?
Finance, in almost all cases. Permissions belong to departments and are inherited by their members, so adding somebody is a single choice rather than a ticket raised with you.
What is the realistic support burden on IT?
Low. Most teams report a single sign on configuration during setup and occasional advice afterwards. Finance owns the configuration and the rules.
How much training does it need?
One session per site is typical, and it usually finishes early. The request form is six fields and most people never open a help article.
Can we review it as we would any vendor?
Yes, and we would encourage it. Bring your security reviewer to the demo rather than raising questions at contract stage, which is faster for everybody.
Does this help IT with its own software spend?
Yes, and it is often the part IT cares most about. Renewals are calendared with notice periods tracked, security review attaches at intake, and shadow tools surface in spend data.
What happens when somebody leaves the company?
Your existing leaver process applies through your identity provider, and their department based access is removed rather than lingering as an orphaned account.

Bring your identity and security questions

We would rather answer them at the demo than at contract stage. Bring your reviewer.

Book your free demo

Related: All solutions and Access and Permissions