Opportunities for Electronic Intermediaries

Intermediaries online in the IT services sector  are limited and few. The growth potential for these companies is enormous due to globalization, labor shortage, Internet and growth  of  b2b commerce. Even though all most all companies in the traditional IT services sector have an online presence, they offer limited services and choice. Intermediaries online with an IT services community aggregated around a Website provide-

• Faster, cheaper and easier service to both the buyer as well as the seller,
• Elimination of the time required to search and evaluate vendors
• Centralized access to information and services on the IT services industry
• Facilitation of  purchasing decisions and disseminating marketing intelligence
• The beneficial exchange of information and services
• Elimination of costs related with traditional procurement steps
• Customer analysis, comparison and decision making tools
• User-friendly, reliable search capabilities
• Discussion rooms, forums and user feedback capabilities
• Small and midsize firms an opportunity to gain access to the large global market of software development

However, these firms also have to realize that building a user audience, aggregating IT services and building a common data platform among trading partners is complex, and hard work. The most essential thing for the intermediaries to do before they try to attract customers is to establish a solid database of sellers.

The two new companies that have ventured into online intermediary portals for the vertical market of IT services sector are ITsquare.com and IT-radar.com. ITsquare.com has created a vendor knowledge base that incorporates a broad range of expertise from small and midsize vendors across the globe.  ITsquare.com also assures high quality expertise to clients through the ITE Network, a segment of ITsquare.com. IT-radar.com though similar claims to be unbiased towards any buyer or seller. IT-radar.com is a neutral marketplace. They are not owned by, or part of, any IT services Providers. IT-radar.com provides free service to clients.