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MakeITDeals Solutions Inc. |
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October 13, 2014 Issue |
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The Most Powerful Name In Corporate News and Information |
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Secure Online Marketplace for Technology Buyers and Sellers |
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About MakeITDeals.com MakeitDeals.com (MITD) is a global on-line marketplace with a relevant search engine where technology buyers and sellers collaborate on opportunities and deals on a secured platform. With a rich database of Enterprise and Midsize Technology Buyers and the best global Technology Solution Providers it will enable direct, efficient and easy interaction in a secured environment. Technology buyers can search the database for providers, connect with them to assess their capabilities and post opportunities that could be bid by providers. Technology Solution Providers will gain access to Global Clients and will be able to showcase their capabilities, features and solutions in one place. This will reduce their business development costs, shorten the sales cycle and expedite their Go-To-Market strategy.
Pulakesh is the CEO and Co-Founder of MakeITDeals,com. During this 20 years experience in the IT Industry, Pulakesh and his co-founders realized that the technology buyers , when they were confronted with the task of solving a business issue, were not able to easily connect with the best solution providers. Using the MakeITDeals.com model, Pulakesh ‘s vision is to bring the buyers and sellers of technology solutions into one online marketplace where they can collaborate on opportunities and deals to create business value.
Prior to founding MakeITDeals.com, Pulakesh served in the Information Technology Industry for nearly 20 years and has handled various leaderships roles in solution development, strategic sales and marketing and client engagements with Fortune 500 companies.
Pulakesh holds a B.S in Production and Industrial Engineering from the National Institiute of Technology,India and an MBA from the Kellogg School of Management, Evanston.
Interview conducted by: CEOCFO: Mr. Sen, would you tell us the concept behind MakeITDeals? Mr. Sen: MakeITDeals is a global online marketplace for technology buyers and technology sellers. It has a relevant search engine where technology buyers and sellers collaborate on opportunities and deals on a secured platform. Anyone can buy and sell the best technology solutions on MakeITDeals.com, the world’s first and only technology deals collaboration platform with an organized and secured database of clients and partners.
With a rich database of technology buyers and sellers, it is also a platform to find the best suitable partnership that can drive innovation and business value. One can find the best fitting partner using the search engine and filtering tools available on the MakeITDeals.com website. Technology buyers can also post opportunities and get the best partner and solution for that specific opportunity. Therefore, when a client is trying to know about an innovative solution or want to find a niche solution provider, that they do not know about, then this is the place to go. MakeITDeals.com also offers an ecosystem where providers can create partnerships with other providers and craft joint solutions or bid together on opportunities. Clients can also collaborate and work jointly with other clients on various industry issues.
CEOCFO: Is this a new concept? Mr. Sen: A similar type of concept does not exist today. However, there are sites for freelancers where anyone can post an opportunity in a situation where they need an expert or a freelancer or contractor.
MakeITDeals.com is a Business to Business marketplace where the clients and the partners can interact and collaborate on opportunities. There are also other stakeholders available on the platform like consulting companies, product vendors, third-party advisors and other stakeholders who provide advice and guidance to the client or the partners on their technology solution needs.
CEOCFO: What were the challenges in putting this all together? Mr. Sen: One of the challenges was to know whether this kind of model will succeed or not. When we started in 2012, we did a great deal of research on similar types of models in the market. We found some sites around B2B opportunities, but we could not find any that has a rich database of clients or partners where they could be searched through relevant keywords. For us the challenge was how do we take it to the Fortune 2000 clients and brand names in the market who would typically be comfortable working with their local partners. Therefore, the challenge was how do we get the technology buyers and sellers across the globe to come and make use of this platform. The second challenge was about developing the electronic marketplace model that would translate the traditional model of how technology buyers would search and find partners and how partners conduct sales and marketing activities in the technology landscape. The core of our platform is a proprietary algorithm that assesses search parameters given by the client and generates search results consisting of providers with the highest maturity in the relevant Industry, solution and Industry segments that best fit the requirements of the client.
CEOCFO: How long has MakeITDeals been available? Mr. Sen: We launched the platform in July 2014. Prior to that, for nearly 2 years, we were involved in product development and conducting pilots with a few clients and partners.
CEOCFO: How have you attracted the buyers and sellers? Mr. Sen: We go to the buyers and they ask us where the partners are and we go to partners and they ask for the buyers. We initially went to the partners and clients with whom we had prior relationships. We then started calling prospective clients and partners, giving them demos and taking initiatives to develop the business relationships. We also came up with the idea to rally both the client and the partner through a campaign on a topic which is of interest to both of them. For example, we pick up a business issue that the client is facing and then get partners with expertise in this particular issue and in this way, we help the client find the best and a relevant solution to resolve the issue. That is something that the clients have liked and appreciated.
CEOCFO: What is the listing process? Mr. Sen: We have client registrations and partner registrations. For partners we conduct a due diligence process in which we validate the partners details such as the management team, technology competencies and solutions, their track record with clients, availability and expertise of resources etc. Basically we try to find out all the details that typically a client will look for in a partner. For example, we gather data on how many people are in the company, their experience, location, the partner’s infrastructure and facilities for delivery, where their offices are located and if they have resources with the right solution expertise and relevant experience of working with clients in specific geographies or markets. We try to get all this information from the partner or provider during the process of their registration on the MakeITDeals.com site. When we talk to clients, we try to understand their technology landscape, the technology solutions that the client is using or looking for and then we have them register on our site with relevant details so that they can find the partners who can provide such solutions. The details captured also help the right partners to approach the client through a structured search process.
CEOCFO: With so many people to reach out to on both sides how do you prioritize? Is it size? Is it diversity? Mr. Sen: Our strategy has been a combination of geography and size. We see that all technology solution providers, service providers and product vendors normally look for doing business with clients in North America. Our founding team is familiar with North America and have prior experience of working in the US for a long time, say one or two decades. We prioritize trying to look for clients in North America who are in the Fortune 1500. We also prioritize the clients based on the ease of reaching the decisions makers so that the client can easily register on our site and post opportunities. When it comes to partners, we have focused on North America, which is US and Canada, as well as Eastern Europe, India, Israel, Singapore and South East Asia. We also have Japan and other geographies such as Latin America in our future plans.
CEOCFO: What will the business model be eventually? Mr. Sen: After the registration process, clients or technology buyers will be posting relevant opportunities and inviting partners or technology providers to bid for those opportunities. We feel that this is where most of the partners would be interested. In fact, a few opportunities are already posted on our site. For example, a large pharmaceutical client has posted opportunities on their need for a clinical trial software. They are looking for a new generation clinical trail software to cater to changing regulatory environment and recent technology developments. Another client is looking for RFID based technology solutions to manage their library of books while there are others that are looking for analytics solutions in specific domain and functional areas. Our business model is based on subscription and success fee that is paid by partners. We have a standard subscription and a premium subscription. The standard is $99 per month and the premium is $199. The partners pay this subscription when they register on our portal and only then they can bid for opportunities that clients have posted. When a partner would win a bid, then they pay a success fee which is about 2.5% of the value of the deal. This is our current business model of generating revenue.
CEOCFO: Why is this the right time for such a service? Mr. Sen: During our tenure in the industry, we have closely observed the following problems with technology solution buyers. Firstly, they are unable to connect with niche and emerging providers for solving business issues. Secondly, they are unable to easily access trusted providers and lastly, they are uncertain of the quality of response they would get from providers.
The traditional way of solving the problem was to entrust someone from the current team of the client, to find a technology provider. On the rare occasion, even if the potential service provider was found, the team was confounded with an even bigger problem – how can you be assured of quality and on-time delivery commitments of the partner. MakeITDeals.com addresses all of these problems, many more and hence provides a new paradigm to apply the best technology solutions and solve business problems.
The cost and risks associated with reaching out to clients has increased. I have come across partners with revenues in the range of $50 to $100 million where they have spent close to $3-5 million dollars on sales and marketing and they were still not able to get entry into the large clients or the clients that they would like to do business with. It is increasingly becoming difficult and a time consuming process for many partners to reach out to target technology buyers and vice versa. The second thing is that most of the technology buyers work with some technology vendors. If a client wants to reach out and find the best solutions in a specific function or domain it is not necessary that the existing vendors will have the best fit one. Therefore, we feel that in this electronic marketplace, that serves as an online channel, it will be easy and convenient for the client to find the best fit solutions and partners that reduces their risk of solving a business problem. Every industry has an online model or online channel, from airlines to consumer goods and books. We feel that in the technology solutions industry there is a space for an online channel where the best technology companies in a specific area can be found and opportunities can be floated to invite the best proposals and best solutions.
CEOCFO: Why pay attention to MakeITDeals? Mr. Sen: We feel that we have a wide reach of partners and clients, so if people want to reach out to these partners and clients using one single platform then this is the place to go. Partners or technology providers do not need a huge sales force and clients or technology buyers do not need a huge vendor management team to find the best solutions and partners. We have noticed the pain that companies go through when they try to find the best solution partner specific to a business problem. Today they try to solve it by going to shortlisted vendor or go to a partner they work with and seek a solution. 90% of the time they are not really happy that they got the best solution to their specific need. It is this need that can be best addressed by the MakeITDeals.com platform.
Technology Buyers can search the database for providers, connect with them to assess their capabilities and post opportunities that could be bid by providers. We selectively enroll providers into the database and conduct the due diligence of the providers so that the clients are assured of best-in-class solution and delivery quality from that solution provider. Similarly, technology providers will be able to access Global Clients where they can showcase their capabilities, features and solutions in an organized and structured manner. This will reduce their business development costs, lower the risks, shorten the sales cycle time and expedite the Go-To-Market strategy. |
“Anyone can buy and sell the best technology solutions on MakeITDeals.com, the world’s first and only technology deals collaboration platform with an organized and secured database of clients and partners.” - Pulakesh Sen
MakeITDeals Solutions Inc. 101 Kaula Lane, Bonita Springs FL 34134 Phone 408 465 7406
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Pulakesh
Sen