This post is a wee bit lengthy, so I’ve broken it into kidding and Ketera.
| the maniacs are enjoying themselves somewhere in Alberta | |
| Wakko | Hee Haw! |
| Dot | That was a classic, wasn’t it. Did you know it had Canadian roots? |
| Wakko | Yippie Ki Yo Yippie Yay! |
| Dot | We’re in Alberta, not Texas, Wakko! |
| ring, ring | |
| Yakko | Yakkos Yiddish Yamakas … cheery caps for cheery chaps! |
| Australian Accent | G’day, Mates! You wanted a demo of Ketera? |
| if you’ll recall, back in part 12 (Kinaxis) the maniacs asked Ketera for a demo … they were too busy at the time, but promised to get back to the maniacs | |
| Yakko | Yes, we did. |
| Australian Accent | Ace! Could you do it now? |
| neeiiggghh! | |
| Australian Accent | Is that a Brumby I hear? Is this a good time for you blokes? |
| Yakko | It’s just fine. I’ll fire up the satellite and we’re good to go! |
| Australian Accent | Bonzer! Are you out in the bush, mate? |
| Yakko | No, we’re just enjoying the ranch. |
| Australian Accent | Texas? |
| Yakko | Alberta. |
| Australian Accent | You’re in the Back of Bourke, aren’t you? |
| Yakko | I guess you could say that. |
| Australian Accent | You’re sure it’s a Mickey Mouse time for you? |
| Yakko | No problem. I’m ready. |
| Dot | I’m ready. |
| Yakko | We just need to wrangle Wakko. One sec. Wakko! Get your strides over here now! |
| Wakko | Why? |
| Yakko | It’s time for the Ketera demo! |
| Wakko | Now? Here? |
| Yakko | We got sattelite internet, remember? |
| Wakko | glumly o. k. |
| Dot | You can get back to having fun as soon as we’re done! |
| Wakko | cheering up A’ight! |
| Wakko moseys on over. | |
| Yakko | We’re ready to give it a fair go! |
| Australian Accent | switching to his best American for the demo Today I’m going to run through our new e-Sourcing application. It’s pretty straight-forward, so it won’t take much time. |
| unlike the maniacs’ walkabout … | |
| Yakko | No problem! Take it away. |
| Australian Accent | I should start off by noting that what we noticed was that a lot of people were spending a lot of money on enterprise sourcing applications without using the full extent of their capabilities … most of our catalog, procurement, and supply network customers were just using e-RFX and e-Auction and most of those customers were just using single round RFXs and traditional reverse auctions … not the dozen or so variants that have sprung up over the last ten years.
We saw the need for a low-cost 80% solution that would give the market what we felt it needed most … a basic sourcing solution for small and mid-size companies without large budgets or sophisticated software needs. And that’s what we built. Our e-Sourcing solution is just RFX and Reverse Auction … and unlike many enterprise applications that take hours, if not days, to set an event up … our solution allows an event to be configured in minutes using a very simple 3-step process. Step 1: Create a new event. |
| Yakko | If it’s that easy, is it really an 80% solution? |
| Australian Accent | Think about it. How much does an e-RFX and e-Auction solution really have to do? |
| Yakko | Well, one thing we learned from talking to Source One about WhyAbe is that, for many categories, and many small to mid-size companies, it doesn’t have to do that much. |
| Australian Accent | Precisely. And their offering is actually a good starting point to understand our offering. |
| Yakko | So how does your offering compare to theirs? |
| Australian Accent | Quite good. We both have the bare minimum requirements for e-RFX and e-Auction, but whereas, in our view, they’re more of a 60% to 70% solution, we add a few features that, although they sound like bells and whistles, are actually necessary for an 80% solution in today’s global e-Sourcing marketplace. |
| Yakko | Like what? |
| Australian Accent | Localization. Contract tracking. Fine-grained scoring on RFX questionnaires. Microsoft Excel integration. Templates. Instant-Messaging and Alerts. Customizable dashboards. Supplier Master Management. Wizards for each step of the process. The little things that make it easy, useful, and a pleasure to use — all embedded in a streamlined application with a carefully designed UI that buyers want to use.
And, unlike many other e-Sourcing platforms, it’s a low-cost, self-service, pay-as-you-go platform. |
| Yakko | How low? |
| Australian Accent | $39.99/month for unlimited RFIs, RFPs, RFQs, and reverse auctions. Plus, you get instant access to thousands of suppliers in the Ketera network. |
| Yakko | Beaut! |
| Australian Accent | Too right! |
| Yakko | Anything else we should know? |
| Australian Accent | It’s very easy to administrate, and the item and supplier master views support numerous filters for quick location of the appropriate item or supplier. It’s straightforward to enter proxy bids on behalf of a supplier. All of the reports have decent graphic capabilities. We support the UNSPSC schema for item categorization. And it has basic project tracking capability — you can quickly see your open events, events requiring bid evaluation, and recently evaluated events at any time. |
| Yakko | So it really is a decent sourcing solution for small and mid-size companies just starting out on their e-Sourcing journey, or those companies without sophisticated sourcing needs. |
| Australian Accent | We think so. And, as I said before, very easy to set-up a sourcing event. |
| Wakko | I’m out of baloney. How long to set up an event to source a 3-months supply? |
| Australian Accent | Five minutes. Watch. |
| five minutes pass as the salesperson demos the tool | |
| Wakko | That’s it? |
| Australian Accent | That’s it! |
| Wakko | Fair suck of the sav! Apparently, Wakko has his Aussie down pat! If I didn’t know better, I’d say he was from the Never Never! |
| Yakko | Well, thanks for the demo. It certainly is an interesting take on the e-Sourcing space. A sourcing tool that every business can afford. |
| Australian Accent | Thank you. Hooroo, Journo! |
| Wakko | Hooroo, mate. |