Client
A large UK insurance broker, which spans several countries and has over 1,000 employees.
Challenge
The brokers fast growth created a business challenge for its IT support team, which manages a complex array of support and procurement requests from multiple locations across the UK. It needed to retain control over technology procurement without becoming a bottleneck.
The IT support team typically has around 85 employee technology procurement tickets open. These are just part of its 1200-ticket weekly workload.
The team's procurement process involved asking seven suppliers for quotes, which would typically arrive within a day. Staff would choose a quote based on price and expected delivery time. IT support would then raise a purchase order and, assuming the item hadn't gone out of stock in the interim, would then wait for the item to arrive before releasing it to the finance department for payment. The IT team had to update the ticket status manually at every point in the process.
The broker desperately needed to streamline this time-intensive procurement process. The ultimate goal was to introduce a solution to enable the employees to self-serve and procure their own business IT requirements within a controlled environment.
"The IT team love the new system and the fact that they now don't have to email all these different suppliers."
IT Manager
Solution
Probrand's Marketplace platform enabled the broker to search for the appropriate items and order them directly in minutes. Proband provisioned its Catalogue Management functionality, allowing the broker to manage which products a user is authorised to purchase.
Additionally, Probrand developed custom functionality that tied purchases to individual locations, known as cost centres. The system now appends the cost centre to each order before tracking delivery automatically. Integration with courier systems enable it to update the client’s tickets automatically with order status. The platform also compiles ordering data into a monthly spreadsheet for the broker’s finance department with a line-by-line breakdown of orders.
The IT support ordering system went live in March 2024. February 2025 sees the client roll out a self-service function allowing employees to order a core selection of lower-value goods - headsets, mice, keyboards, and webcams - directly. That involved creating a single sign-on system that includes role-based ordering controls. The self-service option is available to majority of employees across most locations.
The broker also benefits from access to Probrand's bill and hold functionality, which enables them to purchase stock and then have it warehoused with Probrand. The company can then take delivery of the stock in batches as needed.
Results
The use of the procurement platform, along with the custom functionality that Probrand has added, has empowered the client across the board.
Cost savings
The platform automatically applies all available discounts to orders via the Marketplace, bringing significant savings to the broker. "Our latest order for docks alone saved us over £6000," explained the IT Manager at the company. Additionally, the platform's live pricing and stock information displayed within the price comparison table has resulted in huge time savings. The broker’s IT support team no longer need to make telephone calls or send emails to multiple suppliers to obtain this information, streamlining their procurement process significantly.
User-friendliness
The system is far more functional for employees. "Employees get line of sight of tracking information in the platform, saving another ticket, phone call, or email," the IT Manager said. The self-service ordering portal makes the employee experience even more intuitive, putting them in control.
Simplicity
The Probrand system simplified the ordering process for the broker. "We went from getting seven quotes to working with one supplier that we know is always going to be the cheapest and will always give us the best delivery options, and who we know we can trust," the IT Manager added.
Greater accuracy
The joined-up nature of the system eliminates the chance of manual error on the finance side. Orders are always matched against the right suppliers.
Better controls and more visibility
The roles-based self-service ordering system automatically controls what employees can order. It also gives the finance department more visibility into ordering trends for individual cost centres so that it can identify anomalies.
Greater efficiency
A faster, more joined-up procurement system with less manual interaction makes ordering more reliable, as stock levels have no chance to change. As employees take advantage of the self-service portal, the IT Manager also estimates that it will halve the IT support team's procurement workload.
Probrand’s relationship with the broker continues to deepen - after working together closely on the custom platform implementation, the partnership between the two companies now rests on a robust foundation of mutual trust.
“We now have a consistent, secure and reliable wireless network that has little interference and superb coverage. Put simply, great performance in a demanding environment at an affordable price.
"Probrand delivered everything we asked for. Their staff were so agreeable and willing to go the extra mile."
IT Manager
