Supplier eZine: an email newsletter from OGCbuying.solutions

Return to front cover

Supplier's View

By OGCbuying.solutions

In this edition we focus on Probrand, one of our IT Goods and Services suppliers.

Probrand is a Birmingham-based supplier of top branded computer products, from floppy discs to fully-implemented networks. Established in 1992, it has invested extensively in technical innovation and expertise to achieve remarkable business success.

Probrand's website

www.theitindex.co.uk/gov

At the heart of its success is its www.theitindex.co.uk/gov website, a transparent contract purchasing procurement portal accessed by customers using internet browser technologies.

The system's software compares the availability and prices of similar products from multiple sources by assessing daily product data feeds from nearly 30 UK-based IT distributors, including all the major global brands.

Data feeds come into the IT Index every night and consist of a manufacturer's part number, product description, stock availability and price.

In all more than 100,000 products from approximately 1000 manufacturers are featured within the IT Index.

The Index overcomes the traditional procurement problem of manually sifting and evaluating multiple product types and specifications by using technology to automate the process to provide best price and availability across the full product range, updated on a daily basis.

The result is significant savings in time, increased productivity and confidence that prices are the lowest obtainable in the marketplace. It also provides valuable management information to enable organisations to control and limit IT procurement events to pre-agreed criteria.

The IT Index is the only e-procurement process to be accredited by The Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales.

One very satisfied public sector customer of IT Index is Cheltenham Borough Council (CBC) which reported a 15% saving on its IT budget, savings of 3-6% on individual products and a 20% saving on inkjet, toner and fax cartridges.

"On average the IT Index is saving us at least a day a week which we used to have to spend sourcing and comparing prices. It has released time for us to carry out other purchasing functions such as computerising delivery notes, tightening our audit links, planning our IT procurement more effectively and managing our infrastructure to ensure our users work on a robust network," said CBC's David Gatford.

Stephen Bushell, Probrand Group Head of new business, said:

"In business you have to innovate and this is what we have been doing since we introduced the IT Index some years ago. The Mercato technology that powers www.theitindex.co.uk/gov continues to help us and the vendors grow against a sector that still remains flat.

"Organisations are looking for best priced IT within the shortest possible time and we continue to deliver just that. It is our innovation that has seen the public sector switch on to the bottom line savings www.theitindex.co.uk/gov can offer.

"Additionally, the ongoing development of our suite of online Mercato solutions that touch almost every aspect of ecommerce functionality, from sales to purchasing, continue to work hard for us as both private and public sector organisations look for efficiency savings to add value to the bottom line. 

"Financial Directors, IT Managers and procurement professionals alike are reaching for the time and money savings alongside a clear audit trail delivered by our proven solutions. This includes a record of all transactions and RFQ communication with suppliers. 

"We also believe strongly in collaboration. Any recognised supplier of IT products can register their products with IT Index with full marketing support through our Vendor Growth Programme and Sub-Contractor status, so we are potentially an additional route to market, an ally and a contributor to other organisation's successes. We think that ethos of mutual support and joined up services fits very well in a public sector environment."

http://www.theitindex.co.uk/gov

Back to top

© OGCbuying.solutions 2007