The fourth industrial revolution is upon us - a tech-driven transition that is re-shaping our entire way of life.
For businesses tech solutions have been accelerated by the onset of the covid19 pandemic, forcing adoption of systems and processes that, despite obvious benefits, had been slower to gain acceptance.
One company that has been providing solutions in the field of procurement and supply chain management is eboxTENDERS Ltd.
The company made it to the finals of the TT Chamber's Champions of Business in the category of business technology.
Although the award was eventually won by medl Ltd, eboxTENDERS remains a champion in its field.
EboxTENDERS is a secure cloud-based platform that manages the procurement process from the initial request through execution and all processes in between, and is compliant with both private and public sector requirements.
The firm was established in 2016 by Marvin Marcelle, who made the decision to start his own company after being employed for some 20 years in accounting, sales, technical services related to IT procurement and management information systems.
Marcelle said, 'It seemed like the right time to do it. The studies were already pointing the way forward, and digitalisation would be the future.
'The benefit is a more efficient, cost-effective and transparent process from start to finish. And we provide all our clients with technical and customer service support,' he said.
The company has been seeing steady growth with an uptake in the private sector and state enterprises as clients see the benefits of maintaining an annual subscription.
Admittedly, this may be more attractive to larger companies such as their international clients and regional conglomerates who may be managing multiple projects on an ongoing basis. For smaller companies and those with less tendering activity, Pay Per Tender was introduced.
With this, clients pay a flat fee of $4,500 and have full access to all services related to a robust tendering platform for the period of the project. There are no fees associated with sign-up or installation, and there is no lock-in contract. It also has the added benefit when compared to competitors, of reducing the upfront fees that are normally required for e-tendering.
Marcelle compares it to buying a time-share.
'It's an easy way to rent a confidential single-tenanted eTendering portal only when you need it,' he explained.
However, clients may also choose to go the route of "white label," ie having the application repackaged and rebranded using the client's own signage throughout. This is applicable for organisations inundated with procurement activity and as a result would subscribe on a longer-term basis.
The platform is browser agnostic and hosted on Amazon Web Services (AWS), a fully certified, best-in-class data centre with all the typical security features associated with a world-class eTendering portal.
EboxTENDERS has been successful in providing a number of procurement and sourcing initiatives to several compan
