Interfax develops new service for suppliers on procurements market

Interfax Group has expanded its line of solutions for participants of the government and commercial procurements market with the MARKER specialized information service for the wide range of suppliers who are looking for ways to increase sales.

"Our new system is the result of detailed study of the needs of suppliers, many of whom already use Interfax Group services, foremost the SPARK and SPARK-Marketing systems. MARKER makes it possible to efficiently monitor tenders, assess the potential for increasing sales in various market segments, organize business processes in the area of purchasing, compile a checklist for preparing bids in tenders, analyze reasons for losing tenders and do competitive analysis," the director of the MARKER project, Galina Dzhanbayeva said.

MARKER compliments the capabilities of another Interfax service, SPARK-Marketing, with which it is possible to do in-depth analysis on goods and services markets by studying historical data, comparing prices, assessing the level of competition and looking for signs of potential violations. SPARK-Marketing users are primarily major purchasers and oversight bodies, while the users of the MARKER system are a wide array of suppliers.

"Going forward, we plan to develop MARKER as an efficient, reliable assistant for suppliers in their daily work on the government procurements market, and SPARK-Marketing, foremost, as a tool for in-depth market analysis, including in the interests of oversight bodies," Dzhanbayeva said.

A half million companies carry out contracts on the government and commercial procurements market, serving the needs of 380,000 customers for a total of almost 30 trillion rubles per year. However, participating in the tenders of government bodies and major corporations is becoming more difficult with each passing year given changes in legislation and competition.

"We expect MARKER to become a popular tool, particularly among small and medium businesses, as it will enable them to assess market opportunities, more successfully participate in certain purchasing procedures and consequently expand their business. With the help of the new system, it will be simpler for suppliers to organize efficient work in their tender services, track the activity of competitors and adapt to the constantly changing rules of doing business with government customers," Dzhanbayeva said.

SPARK-Marketing, created by Interfax in 2012, is widely used by federal and regional government agencies, major corporations, law enforcement and regulatory bodies. In particular, the system‘s module for monitoring procurements makes it possible to automatically identify, in a whole array of information, contracts that require particular attention when conducting control measures.

Interfax accumulates all available information on government and commercial procurements in the SPARK-Marketing and MARKER systems, including 95% of the data of public trading platforms.

Interfax is the largest information services group in the former Soviet Union, and the recognized leader on the information market in the B2B segment. Interfax develops professional information solutions that help companies navigate the financial and commodity markets, make investment decisions, manage risks, conduct external communications and comply with regulatory requirements. Interfax‘s best known IT services include the SPARK system (verification of counterparties, risk management); the SCAN media analysis system; ASTRA (analytical solution for compliance with Russian legal requirements in the area of transfer pricing); and X-Compliance (solution for managing compliance risks); SPARK-Marketing (automated monitoring of procurements); Corporate Information Disclosure Center (e-disclosure.ru); and RU Data (analytical and reference information for financial market participants).