Eminent IT: 5,000 government users in 9 months
Find out how Eminent IT, a government-focused technology consulting firm, deployed a supply chain ordering portal on Virto Commerce for the Executive Office of the US Government.
In short
The Executive Office of the US Government needed to replace an obsolete internal supply chain ordering system and give staff a shopping experience closer to Amazon or Best Buy. Its partner Eminent IT, a technology consultancy that works with government, assessed several platforms and chose Virto Commerce: it met about 80% of the requirements out of the box and runs on the Microsoft .NET stack the government IT team already trusted. After 9 months of three-week sprints, the new Supply Chain Shopping System serves 5,000 users across 11 government organizations, with approval routing and financial tracking by division and fiscal year.
We chose Virto Commerce for the Executive Office of the US Government supply chain solution because it is the only platform that could provide the modern ecommerce shopping experience we wanted, as well as the technical requirements of being customizable, flexible, secure and built on a Microsoft .NET technology stack.
Challenge: replacing an obsolete ordering system
The Executive Office of the US Government needed to replace its internal supply chain ordering system. The existing system was built on obsolete legacy applications and business processes.
The requirements were specific:
- Provide a modern shopping experience comparable to Amazon or Best Buy
- Modernize both citizen-facing and internal supply chain ordering workflows
- Roll out to multiple government organizations
Solution: 80% out of the box, approvals built in
After assessing multiple platforms, Eminent IT selected and recommended Virto Commerce.
Key customizations and build elements:
- Custom checkout theme with government-specific approval routing
- Admin tracking modules for order history, financials by division, monthly and fiscal year reporting
- Phased rollout: Beta to 40 users after 5 months; gradual expansion to 3 units of 200 people; full rollout to 11 organizations and 5,000 users
- Agile delivery: three-week sprint cadence throughout the 9-month project
Result: 11 organizations, 5,000 users
Business Benefits
- Government-compliant .NET architecture gave the client’s IT team a familiar foundation they were comfortable working in and securing.
- Custom approval routing means orders flow through the correct government authorization channels automatically, without manual intervention or workarounds.
- Financial tracking by division, month, and fiscal year gives procurement managers the reporting structure they need for government budget accountability.
- 80% out-of-the-box fit meant only 20% of the solution needed custom development, saving significant time and cost.
