18 Apr 2023
Looking back on a year of growth for Predict and of great savings for our customers, our Chief Product Officer, Gavin Russell, reflects on how our approach is challenging out-dated market norms.
I joined Predict just over a year ago, and it’s been a busy time! From further developing our platform to continuing to make the procurement process as frictionless as possible, Predict for Mobile has made it easier and quicker for customers to conduct a business mobile tender – saving them on average 52% on their current contract costs.
I have worked in Information and Communication Technology (ICT) for the past 23 years, on both sides of the Atlantic, in blue chip companies as well as with start-ups. Since the late ‘90s, I have seen first-hand the advances in mobile technology, and how companies and organisations have integrated these developments into how they operate in order to drive business benefit.
In comparison, I have also seen that the way companies and organisations procure mobile services has frustratingly not changed at all in that time. Even though most people are aware of the high cost of business mobile, the amount of time and resource, and the frequent worry that they are not fully in control of the process is enough to put them off from trying to doing something about it.
It’s time to bring the procurement process up to date – using technology advances to cut through the confusion of the market and enable customers to easily choose the contract that truly fits their needs.
Nearly every UK business overspends on their business mobile – by an average of 96% according to research by Billmonitor endorsed by Ofcom.
The main reason is a mis-match between an organisation’s existing contract and its true business mobile needs. However, fixing this is challenging:
You need a way to easily identify your true needs, clearly communicate them to potential suppliers and accurately compare the tender responses. And that’s where Predict for Mobile comes in.
From small companies through to large charities and corporate institutions with thousands of lines, organisations using the Predict for Mobile platform over the last year have benefited from:
Cost savings – We have made over £1.2m cost savings for users of the platform, with an average of 52% savings on their previous contract costs – plus Predict for Mobile is free for them to use.
Time savings – Our end-to-end process reduces the time involved to secure a new contract by at least 80% and the amount of actual resource saved, in terms of administrative effort, is well over 90%.
More control – Most customers highlight feeling more in control of the whole procurement process as an important additional benefit, based on increased confidence from identifying and communicating true needs, through to making genuine comparisons for better informed decision-making.
After a successful launch of the initial version of the platform in 2020 and growing customer and supplier engagement throughout 2021, 2022 was all about making sure our foundations were solid to build our future success – focusing on increased platform capability and growing customer awareness.
During the year, our talented development team worked hard to bring the enhanced second version of the platform to market, and this saw the public light of day in Q3. Simplifying the process wherever possible, we have made it even easier for customers to use the platform and make informed business mobile contract decisions.
We engaged directly with companies and organisations across all kinds of industries and sectors to share with them the benefits of using our free platform. In addition, we started establishing our indirect route to market working in partnership with member organisations, brokers and large-scale financial service companies. These channel partners will massively increase our market reach and bring step-change growth in terms of the number of tenders published on the platform. With 17 tenders published in the second half of 2022 and six already published in 2023, it’s great to see that momentum is building.
At Predict, we’re looking forward to another year of making a positive impact in the market by doing the right thing.
We continue to make improvements to the Predict for Mobile platform to sustain a genuine win: win solution for both customers and suppliers, by addressing their pain points and creating consistent commercial success. And, with the help of our growing team and great channel partners, we are confident we can reach more organisations and create greater impact over the next 12 months.
If you have any questions, or would like to find out more about how Predict can help you save time and money finding your perfect supplier with the optimum bespoke tariff, get in touch with us for a chat at hello@predictmobile.com.
