MARKIT 2020 – The Year in Focus

To say it was a challenging year would be an understatement, but we responded well to our client’s pains and needs and helped them succeed in overcoming many of the IT procurement challenges they have faced and are still facing in some markets. Additionally, our clients have managed to get secure, on time IT deliveries and continue to save time and money despite - all the obstacles. 

The word appears to have “got out” too as, since the start of the pandemic over 2,000 companies have joined Markit as clients. We must be doing something right! 

Our average 2020 NPS (Net Promoter Score) client satisfaction rating grew to 66.9% (up 3.0%) with 10 countries scoring over 70% - the sign of truly world class performance.  

Looking back, here are some of the key highlights of 2020, with links for further reading. 

January  

• We kicked off the year showing how IT procurement can go greener with Markit and announced 7 eco-filters in our marketplace to help companies meet their sustainable IT purchasing targets. 
• We noted how punchout is on the rise (at that time over 25,000 buyers in more than 850 companies were using punchout systems to buy from Markit). 
• Markit France joined DSI the largest independent European CIO organization in its field. 

February  

• We commented on The Economist’s report: What’s now and next for finance and procurement? Automation, digitisation and the future of global trade and drew attention to the rise of automated procurement. During 2019, 61% of the 200,000+ orders for IT hardware and accessories that we received from 9,500+ clients across 34 countries...were automated.  

March  

• We received confirmation that Markit was shortlisted in the World Procurement Awards 2020. It was the first time an Estonian company had reached the finals of The World Procurement Awards and the first time a vertical category (indirect IT in our case) supplier had been shortlisted (as far as we know). 
• COVID-19 hit, and we immediately published our commitment to help companies with their IT challenges during the crisis.  

April  

• We published a series of IT procurement success stories on Slideshare, with international clients, vendors and distributors showing how they have saved considerable amounts of time and money by working with Markit. 
• Procurement Leaders published our report about the dilemma faced by many CPOs (Chief Procurement Officers) handling the IT category: How can businesses achieve the obvious goal to consolidate their IT hardware and accessory suppliers (to save time and money) and at the same time have multiple suppliers at a local level? Read more here: The Indirect IT Procurement Dilemma - Solved  
• In response to the pandemic, we launched a new service (Global IT Now) to help solve local IT shortage problems faced by thousands of companies and at the same time outlined how companies can recession proof their IT requirements. 

May  

• As the effects, and future business implications, of the pandemic became clearer we shared our standpoint, and gave our opinions on: The importance of trust (and how it matters more than ever now) and client service agility (our clients, and yours, will remember how they were treated during the crisis.)  
• As part of our continuing Asian expansion plans, Markit Indonesia was incorporated and is scheduled to start trading in Q2 2022 once full catalogue integrations are completed. 

June - July  

• An extraordinarily busy time helping new and existing clients succeed in acquiring the IT products they needed for critical projects and new remote working scenarios. 

August  

• A new Markit (time savings calculator) tool was launched - supported by an in-depth report: How to optimse time savings in indirect IT procurement. 
• Markit achieved HP GOLD Partner status in 10 countries and SILVER Partner status in 24 more. An agreement was made to join HP Amplify™ Partner Program in 34 countries. More details here. 

October  

• In a comprehensive, free report created for Procurement Leaders, we described The Pros, Cons and Pitfalls of Using B2B Marketplaces for International Indirect Procurement  

November  

• Markit CEO, Andres Agasild, lead a team of Markiteers at the World Procurement Awards where we were a sponsoring partner. Andres gave a presentation about using a Marketplace-as-a-supplier to transform indirect IT procurement. 
• We discovered we did not win the World Procurement Awards and whilst the result was disappointing, it motivated Markiteers more than ever... Read more here. 
• Markit Spain’s new office opened in Barcelona to meet increased demand for Markit services. 
• First orders were received by Markit Brazil which was formed earlier in the year. The outlook is very promising. 
• On 20th November, Markit's revenue passed the 2019 annual total. Markit has grown during the pandemic and increased its market share. 
• First Ever VIRTUAL Markit Summit - and the Importance of Cake in Online Conferences! 

December  

• The first of several upgrades to Markit’s Marketplace were released including: 

A completely new layer of transparent information and data about each Markit country including: 

1. The size of the IT distribution market, the proportion of distributors integrated in Markit (thus showing the health and penetration of the marketplace) 
2. More real time data showing the number of products available locally and cross border 
3. Detailed, dynamic, delivery speed and accuracy data for each country 
4. Transparent stock availability, delivery speed and delivery accuracy data from key IT Distributors. 
5. A map showing where products are shipped from, which can help clients choose supply options where products have less distance to travel. 

• The IT catalogue in Markit’s marketplace expanded throughout the year and now offers over 3.5 million unique IT products (3565471 to be precise, 31 December). As far as we know, this means the Markit marketplace is by far the largest source of IT products (from a single supplier) in the world. 

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