The new functionality enables buyers of connectivity within The Connected World platform to automate the sourcing process with suppliers, effectively solving for fallout, special pricing requests, performance requirements and diversity needs.
Millions of quotes
This intelligent automation will significantly reduce quoting time and overall connectivity cost while improving the customer experience. The addition of Bid Management to Connected2Fiber’s platform addresses the manual nature in which network buyers currently communicate with their base of network suppliers on bids.
While automated quoting in The Connected World has generated millions of quotes in the past 30 days alone, until today, there was still a gap in being able to provide an automated solution for buyers supporting multi-location bids where they need to solve for fallout in locations, special pricing to support a critical deal, certain required performance standards, and diversity in the network. Connected2Fiber solves these traditional hurdles by bringing automation together with the largest ecosystem of buyers and sellers in the connectivity space. Within Connected2Fiber’s Bid Management capability, users quoting connectivity from their supplier base can:
- Automatically identify bid locations where fallout occurred, supplier pricing or terms need to change, or technical questions need to be addressed based on insights within the CPQ process
- Search for alternative network providers to satisfy bid requests by leveraging Connected2Fiber’s best-in-class network intelligence
- Communicate with network providers both inside and outside of The Connected World platform via new messaging and secure supplier portal functionality in order to satisfy bid requests. The resulting accepted pricing and term information from suppliers will automatically integrate into the quote
From a workflow perspective, Bid Management was created to provide the user with maximum control over their instance and processes. Upon launching Bid Management within CPQ, users can select locations of interest within their quote where they’d like to engage their supplier base, select the specific configurations of interest for each location (e.g. product type, term, speed, etc.), and choose which providers will receive each combination of location and configuration.
Quickly, confidently, and economically
To expand supplier reach during the process, The Connected World’s network intelligence capability displays suppliers available to service each location of interest, and each can subsequently be engaged in the Bid Management process as well.
Ben Edmond, CEO of Connected2Fiber said,
“The introduction of Bid Management into the network buyer’s CPQ process will revolutionize connectivity purchasing. This new capability will not only drive seamless discovery and engagement within a provider’s supplier base, but ultimately enable a quicker turnaround time on deals, offer a lower total cost base, and deliver confidence in a provider’s ability to execute deals. All of this will give rise to a new era of automated engagement in the connectivity buying and selling process.”
Upon completion of a Bid Management request, network suppliers will receive a notification within their instance of The Connected World, as well as a link within email, requesting product pricing and other terms for locations and configurations specifically targeted towards them. Through an easy-to-use portal, network sellers and buyers can collaborate to reach resolution on commercial terms in order to quickly, confidently, and economically submit a competitive bid.
The new Bid Management capability is now available to all existing and new Connected2Fiber customers.