AUSTIN, TX – July 13, 2011 – Today Spiceworks™ Inc. the world’s largest social business network for IT, unveiled new capabilities that make technology purchasing easier for its 1.5 million users. The new Request for Quote (RFQ) feature automates and simplifies the complex process of purchasing business technology and services by leveraging the social networking features of the Spiceworks community to power e-commerce.
The Request for Quote (RFQ) feature enables small and mid-sized businesses (SMBs) to solicit vendor quotes for technology goods and services, share quotes with peers and place orders directly within the Spiceworks network. The streamlined approach is designed to help automate the last and often most cumbersome part of their jobs – the technology purchasing process.
“Social commerce has changed consumer buying habits, but the approach has yet to take hold among businesses,” said Scott Abel, co-founder and CEO of Spiceworks. “With 1.5 million business professionals in Spiceworks, our community spends more than $260 billion a year on technology products and services. The new RFQ feature is the latest of several capabilities we will unveil that aim to harness the collective-buying power of the Spiceworks network, while also providing technology vendors a way to benefit from the growing wave of social commerce.”
Request for Quote Streamlines Technology Purchasing
As the first of several upcoming social commerce capabilities to be integrated into Spiceworks, the RFQ feature provides multiple ways for small and mid-sized businesses to streamline the process of purchasing the technology they use every day – from cloud services and hosted e-mail to laptops, desktops and servers. The RFQ feature includes the following capabilities:
- Anonymous Quote Requests – allows businesses to anonymously request and receive bids from technology vendors on complex purchase requests, such as orders for multiple laptops or servers. Users can submit their RFQs directly to vendors or resellers, and receive quotes back within hours.
- Multi-vendor Support – connects the Spiceworks RFQ feature with any technology vendor or reseller. Vendors receive RFQs electronically from Spiceworks users and can respond in a timely manner. The order process is further simplified by allowing users to easily complete purchases through Spiceworks once the bid is accepted. Technology vendors also have the option to integrate their product catalogs with Spiceworks to further automate the ordering process for SMB buyers. CDW, a leading provider of technology solutions for business, government, education and healthcare, is the first vendor to link its catalog with the Spiceworks RFQ feature.
- Social Sharing – Spiceworks users can share their RFQs with co-workers to collaborate on the buying process. Soon, Spiceworks will allow users to more easily share RFQs with others in the community so they can gather advice and feedback to make more informed purchasing decisions.
- RFQ Templates – enables users to save and reuse previously submitted RFQs for recurring technology purchases, such as equipment orders for new employee hires or regularly used items like printer ink. This capability helps IT pros further streamline the buying process for their ongoing technology needs.
“For businesses like mine, technology is not an impulse buy but rather, a considered purchase,” said Kevin Burns, Systems Administrator, United Health Centers. “By integrating the automated RFQ feature into my daily workflow, Spiceworks is making the technology purchasing process much simpler, while also directly connecting me with vendors and peers so I can buy in a social way.”
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