In response to my last article concerning Ariba, one reader pointed out that supplier enablement and internal adoption of procurement systems by employees are sticky issues that can undermine the success of any e-procurement implementation.

The point of this article is not to discuss tools that would help to address these issues, but rather to give some hints as to how companies can get their suppliers and employees on-board. These suggestions have been garnered from discussions with organisations that have overcome these issues to successfully achieve good levels of take-up - and hence get nearer to the holy grail of achieving real ROI.

Getting your employees to use the system: the level of success of any technology deployment within an enterprise is directly tied to the level of support that it receives within the organisation. Companies that have achieved the best results have designated a top-level executive as a chief advocate for use of the system by employees.

To further drive use of the system into the organisation, firms report that assigning a champion - drawn usually from either the purchasing or IT department - improves internal take-up. Made responsible for driving deployment and adoption, measuring results, communicating successes and troubleshooting, this champion is often measured and receives incentives based on the success of the programme in terms of adoption levels. Some firms are even mandating use of the system by all employees.

But high-level support, or even making use of the system compulsory, will not alone overcome resistance from staff to changing the ways in which they work. Companies that have successfully achieved high levels of user adoption report that user training is essential - not just in how to use the system, but also in how to build new, unfamiliar business processes into their working day.

Leading organisations report that a combination of web-based and face-to-face training works best. For some, use of external assistance has helped to overcome cultural barriers, but a firm must ensure that experience and knowledge gained is transferred to internal staff over time in order to lessen the expense of reliance on external consultants.

Suppliers need attention too: the best way to encourage suppliers to use the e-procurement system is to show them that its use will be of value to them also. Companies need to take time upfront to identify categories for purchase that can return the greatest efficiency benefits and savings in the shortest period of time. Start with the low-hanging fruit and set realistic goals.

As with internal resources, suppliers too need to be educated. Companies report that this takes a fair amount of hand-holding. Some have encouraged their company buyers to work individually with suppliers to explain how use of the system will benefit them - for example, they may gain a larger share of business - and how the system should be used. Others have held events to which their suppliers are invited to explain how automating processes will benefit them as well.

Those companies that enjoy a dominant position in their supply chain, with a small number of suppliers who may actually be dependent on that firm for a large chunk of their business, often find that they are in the best position to get suppliers to use the system. They have achieved high levels of success by concentrating initially on the largest suppliers and communicating the resulting benefits to encourage remaining suppliers to use the system.

Finally, you can't improve what you can't measure. Take time to monitor results and capture and embed best practices. Determine what works best for each product or service category and communicate results to suppliers and employees. By proving that it works, people will feel more inclined to use the system.