Internet purchasing facilities to hit IC
A pilot run for purchasing equipment over the internet is soon to arrive for Imperial College members. The main intention of the service is to replace orders for college equipment to third party suppliers.
At the moment, there is only information concerning the purchase of personal computers. However, this is hoped to be expanded to include stationery, gas cylinders and chemical supplies, as well as printing and photocopying services all available over the internet. Full purchasing facilities are expected to be available after adequate security procedures have been implemented. Co-ordinators of the pilot state the advantages of the service to be speedier response for orders, cost savings for the college by the reduction of paperwork and easy access to the latest catalogue of products over the internet.
Speaking to Felix, Mr James Bayley, Procurement Systems Officer, said that there would be no security risks involved in transactions across the internet, since Secure Socket Layers (SSL) and encryption techniques would be used, and the facilities would only be available from within the Imperial College computing network
Currently, only the Union Bookshop on the Sherfield walkway and the Kodak centre in the Electrical Engineering Department can receive orders over the internet.
