New Plymouth company seeking slice of global tenders

By ADAM GIFFORD

New Plymouth's Media Direct Information Services is trying to turn its TenderLink service into a global tendering system.

Owner and chief executive Philip Brown said a beta version of the TenderLink.com site is due by December 15, with the full service to be launched in April.

"Our aim is for TenderLink.com to be the most widely recognised e-tendering solution operating in a global marketplace," Mr Brown said.

PricewaterhouseCoopers is helping to develop business models, including identifying sources of investment capital needed to get the system into the marketplace.

The site is being built in Jade by New Plymouth software developers, using the Jade Thin Client rather than a standard web browser. It will probably be hosted through Jade Direct in Christchurch.

Jade was also used for the Lignus timber industry exchange, because it allows users to specify more complex transactions than is now possible with web screens.

So far, Mr Brown has put $500,000 of his own money into development of the global tendering system.

He has run TenderLink since 1994, starting as a paper-based clearing house for tenders and moving to faxing, e-mail and the internet.

Tenders from firms, Government agencies and local bodies are circulated to several hundred suppliers in New Zealand and Australia, who subscribe to receive tenders which fit their profile.

The new system will allow more use of automated notifications to suppliers, and allow buyers and suppliers to communicate electronically.

TenderLink.com will allow for publication of tenders, RFIs (requests for information) and RFPs (requests for proposals).

"The final product will enable purchasers and suppliers to negotiate their tender requirements in a totally neutral and transparent environment, and with global accessibility," Mr Brown said.

All communications are recorded, providing an audit trail in case of dispute.

Buyers will pay to post tenders, and will be given electronic tender boxes to manage the transactions.

Suppliers can subscribe to automatically receive all relevant tenders, or they can shift to a pay-per-view system.

TenderLink.com has a revenue target of $20 million within three years.

"We estimate in our target markets, the English-speaking countries, there are more than a million tenders annually. We're looking for a considerable slice of that."