Patent ID: 8515823

Claim:
A computer system for qualifying a vendor, comprising: a web server configured to: receive vendor criteria information for each of a plurality of qualifiers, the plurality of qualifiers comprising at least one qualifier already existing on the computer system and at least one new qualifier; wherein, for each of the plurality of qualifiers, the vendor criteria information comprises a set of requirements for the vendor to do business; wherein the plurality of qualifiers comprises at least one qualifier selected from the group consisting of: a buyer-defined qualifier and an industry-specific qualifier; and receive vendor qualification information associated with the vendor for each of the plurality of qualifiers; wherein the vendor is a business entity selected from the group consisting of corporation, partnership, and company; a database configured to store said vendor qualification information and said vendor criteria information for each of the plurality of qualifiers; at least one tool configured to: for each qualifier of the plurality of qualifiers, each time said vendor qualification information or said vendor criteria information is updated, compare said vendor qualification information to said vendor criteria information to determine for the qualifier whether the vendor is pre-qualified to receive requests for goods or services independent of any specific request for goods or services; wherein the at least one tool is utilized to create and maintain, for each of the plurality of qualifiers, a list of pre-qualified vendors to which a request for goods or services may be made; for each of the plurality of qualifiers, responsive to a determination that the vendor is pre-qualified, add the vendor to the list of prequalified vendors; and for each of the plurality of qualifiers, enable a buyer to select, from the list of pre-qualified vendors, one or more vendors to receive a specific request for goods or services.