Chennai-based startup firm Fullner Trade Consulting has launched a web-based trading platform for IT products and services.

This closed business-to-business platform targets software and BPO companies to cater to their IT requirements.

Fullner connects buyers and sellers through the platform. It helps to locate buyers; automatically rates them based on defined criteria and co-ordinates till the sourcing is complete. The platform also enables negotiation facility and live-web meeting with vendors.

Revenue comes in the form of annual subscriptions from buyers and a listing fee from sellers. A minimal fee is charged when transactions are closed, said R S Mani, co-founder and chief executive officer of Fullner.

“According to our research, IT and ITeS enterprises place about 20 orders in a year for procuring products and services. Vendor selection mostly happens through word-of-mouth without proper analysis of requirements and the sellers. Though transactions through references are efficient in a few cases, they might not comply to best practices,” he said.

The company has a repository of about 100 resellers of IT products and services. It has closed about 300 transactions in the past six months.

“We have tied up with resellers and not OEMs (original equipment manufacturers) because in most cases, resellers offer better pricing than the manufacturers,” he said. Sourcing is one of the critical pain areas for IT managers. A web-based platform reduces the complexities in the sourcing process, he added.

“While the branch office requiring products or services might be in Chennai, the head will be based in Bangalore and the deciding authority might be in USA. Decision-making becomes fairly complex and time-consuming. We simplify the process to a great extent,” he said.