While many of its B2B peers are either on the verge of failure already victims of an increasingly cautious market, the new management of corporate e-procurement marketplace Cyberlynx claims they are on a winner after conducting a series of trials with investor and client partners.
Cyberlynx is an electronic marketplace established by seven of Australia's largest corporate giants, Commonwealth Bank, Woolworths, EDS, Lion Nathan, Telecom New Zealand, Carter Colt Harvey and Royal SunAlliance. These corporations have made a commitment to procuring a significant portion of their indirect goods expenditure through the marketplace, and in return expect to receive significant savings through the aggregation of their spend and the efficiencies of transacting electronically.
While the only corporate marketplace comparable in size, corProcure, has been suffering staffing cuts and the exit of its CEO, Cyberlynx is going to every effort to remind B2B doomsayers that the marketplace has experienced a fruitful pilot program and will deliver its intended benefits to members.
The marketplace conducted a pilot late last year which included the procurement of office supplies, travel management, airlines, hotel accommodation and, more importantly for the IT channel, printers and monitors.
Cyberlynx business development director Stephen Harmer said the response was very positive from both suppliers and clients. "While some customers still prefer to buy bundled IT products, the pilot suggests the unbundled approach is very attractive," he said.
So attractive in fact that one of Australia's largest retailers, Woolworths, is buying its IT products at higher volumes than its compliance level -- the volume it committed to purchasing through Cyberlynx. The results suggest that, despite the failure of many B2B hubs, the model is beginning to play a significant role in the IT procurement.
This role is expected to expand with the introduction of 16 new categories for Cyberlynx by the end of June, among them a range of desktop, laptop and server computer products.
