Unit4 Source-to-contract by Scanmarket (S2C)Unit4 Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP)Higher EducationChief Procurement Officer (CPO)
Author: Mille Høst July 9, 2026 5 min read

How Atlantic Technological University built a unified procurement workflow with Unit4

Two professionals collaborate at a tablet while seated in a modern office lounge area.

Procurement teams are being asked to deliver strategic value while working with systems that have not been designed to connect sourcing, contracts, and spend in one place.

I recently hosted a webinar with Deirdre Kinnarney from Atlantic Technological University's procurement team and Kärt Kukke, one of our Scanmarket by Unit4 consultants, to walk through how Atlantic Technological University (ATU) connected Scanmarket's Source-to-Contract (S2C) capabilities with their existing Unit4 Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP), creating a single, unified Procure-to-Pay (P2P) workflow.

We covered what sparked the initiative, how they designed the solution, the business impact, and the lessons they learned along the way.

Here are the key takeaways.

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The gap Atlantic Technological University set out to close

Most ERP systems handle transactional procurement well: purchase orders, approvals, invoice processing. But strategic procurement is a different challenge entirely.

Procurement teams tell us the same thing over and over. They're working with limited visibility across sourcing, contracts, and supplier data. They're making decisions based on incomplete information. And they're spending too much time on manual tasks that should be automated.

ATU recognized this gap. Their Unit4 ERP handled the transactional side effectively, but strategic sourcing and contract management weren't connected to those processes. The result was fragmented data, manual workarounds, and a procurement function that couldn't deliver its full potential.

When your ERP handles purchase orders but leaves sourcing and contracts to spreadsheets, you're only getting half the value from your investment.

Designing a unified procurement workflow

ATU's approach was to connect S2C directly with their ERP, creating one end-to-end workflow from sourcing through to payment.

Here's what that shift looks like in practice.

  • Spend visibility becomes real - Past and present spending data sits in one place, making it far easier to predict future spend and spot consolidation opportunities. No more pulling numbers from five different sources to build a category strategy.

  • Contracts stay on track - Templates, notifications, and tracking tools standardize how contracts are created, approved, and monitored. Nothing slips through the gap between signing and renewal.

  • Tighter controls on spending - Real-time visibility of contract spend allows to maintain tighter control over procurement costs by ensuring purchases are made against negotiated agreements and approved budgets. By tracking spend on contract as it happens, organizations can quickly identify off-contract purchases, reduce maverick spending, and maximize the value of supplier negotiations

For ATU, designing this unified workflow meant establishing a single source of truth for procurement data. Every stakeholder, from budget holders to finance colleagues, works from the same information. That consistency changed how decisions are made across the organization.

The people side: how ATU drove adoption across teams

Technology only delivers value if people actually use it. This was one of the most practical threads in our webinar conversation.

ATU's experience reinforced a truth we see with customers repeatedly: procurement touches far more roles than just the procurement team. Budget holders, finance colleagues, and operational leads all interact with procurement processes in some way. If the new way of working feels like an extra burden, adoption stalls quickly.

As Deirdre Kinnarney from ATU shared during the webinar:

I felt that having them involved early stopped any change resistance at the end.

That shift in perception is everything. Building a strong business case early mattered for ATU. When leadership could see clear data from consolidated spend analytics and improved contract compliance, they became champions of the change rather than obstacles to it. That coalition across procurement, finance, and operations is what turns a technology project into genuine organizational progress.

The good news is that a well-connected S2C platform actually reduces friction for these stakeholders. Configurable workflows match how your teams already operate. Self-service capabilities give people the information they need without chasing procurement for updates. And when the tools are intuitive, onboarding time drops significantly.

I've seen this firsthand across Scanmarket by Unit4 customers. The teams that invest in bringing people along, not just switching on software, are the ones that see lasting results. A skills-based approach to change management, where you identify the capabilities your team needs and build them proactively, makes a real difference. So does connecting individual performance to the broader procurement strategy, so people understand how their daily work contributes to organizational goals.

The bigger picture: end-to-end Source-to-Pay

S2C is powerful on its own. But the real prize is an end-to-end Source-to-Pay process that connects strategic sourcing all the way through to payment.

When the full S2P cycle connects to your ERP, procurement stops being an isolated function. It becomes part of the financial fabric of the organization. Budget holders see real-time spend against contracts. Finance teams get cleaner data for reporting. And procurement leaders can demonstrate measurable ROI to senior leadership with confidence.

For organizations already running Unit4 ERP, this connection is especially relevant. The integration between Scanmarket by Unit4 and Unit4 is designed with flexible data exchange capabilities that link sourcing and contract data directly to your financial processes. You're not bolting on a disconnected tool. You're extending the platform you already trust.

ATU's experience shows what's possible when you take that step. A higher education institution with complex procurement needs, multiple stakeholders, and the accountability demands that come with public funding connected these systems and created genuine, measurable impact.

Ready to see how the pieces fit?

ATU's story is a practical example of what connected procurement looks like, and if you're in a similar position, the path to a unified procurement function may be shorter than you expect. Scanmarket by Unit4 S2C platform integrates with your existing environment, and the modular approach means you can start with the capabilities that matter most, whether that's spend analytics, sourcing automation, or contract management.

Our webinar recording walks through each of these areas in detail, with insights from ATU's procurement team on what they learned and what they'd recommend. Watch it now and explore what connected procurement could look like for your organization.

Procurement has always been about getting the best value. Now it's time to give your procurement team the tools to prove it.

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