While glancing at the industry scenario, one can apparently say that the procurement industry of India is oriented towards exporting a variety of goods and services all across the globe. Over the few years, the Indian procurement industry has broken the traditional and conventional thought and has earned its position in the limelight of the global scenario. And, it would have not been possible without the contributions of some of the leading people in the industry. One such leader and a renowned face in the procurement industry is, Lakshmi Gadiraju, CEO at BOB eProcure Solutions Pvt. Ltd. Lakshmi is an innovative leader with an enriched experience of 16+ years as a solution architect and as an entrepreneur specializing in Product Development, Building Strategies, Business Improvement, Productivity and Workforce Management, Ensuring Customer Excitement and Retention, Operations Excellence and Developing People Leadership.
Her experience with leading technology enterprises like SAP & Oracle, helped her to master her technical skills and sharpen her people skills. Leading from the front, Lakshmi, as Founder -CEO of BoB eProcure, has ensured innovative product deliveries which provide tangible business impact, winning accolades from Industry experts, Analysts & Customers alike. Her ability to develop leaders from within her team, build a cohesive, performance driven technology organisation has been recognized by various reputed media house.
Driving Technology for Industrial Empowerment and Overall Improvement
Lakshmi’s values and work ethics are to what she attributes her and BoB eProcure’s success . Taking decisions crucial for BoB eProcure’s growth such as those on the technology roadmap seems to be the most difficult, according to Lakshmi as that one decision would create a direct impact on the market.
Lakshmi’s view on what defines an empowered woman is “An Independent Thinker with an ability to make responsible choices with respect to her career, relationships, and finances and be accountable for the same.” She also mentions that her family and friends have always been supportive to her and said, “This, I believe is the cornerstone for my success today.”
BOB eProcure: Making Procurement smarter
Rated as the Notable Vendor in Procurement by Gartner in 2015 and amongst the Top 10 Procurement Consultants by Silicon India, 2017, BOB eProcure is known for its easy-to-use, time and cost-saving technology solutions in the procurement domains. These products can potentially revolutionize procurement processes across a wide spectrum of industries, marketplaces, public utilities and government institutions. Not just in terms of savings, the BOB eProcure suite of intuitive tools facilitates sustained supplier relationships, and mitigate the supplier risks and process compliance. So far, the company has successfully executed more than 25,000 sourcing projects and directly contributed to about 8% savings for an enviable clientele of more than 100 world-renowned brands.
BOB eProcure offers a wide range of products including:
- BoB eSourcing: An innovative online portal, configurable to address market-specific sourcing processes and compliances. BOB eSourcing is ideal for enterprises seeking to drive effective negotiations for every deal. The product offers guaranteed ROI from day one, and currently leads the industry.
- BoB eRfx: A comprehensive online Rfp/Rfx/Rfi lifecycle management solution, which comes with enriched features such as templates for Rfx/Rfp creation; customizable workflows for approvals, evaluations & awards; auto evaluation and scoring of supplier responses; and insightful dashboard.
- BoB eDisposal: An online smart disposal platform, useful for enterprises seeking to dispose scrap, unused/ idle assets, old machinery and equipment. The growing demand for a comprehensive solution towards eWaste (Electronic Waste) Management is addressed by BoB eWaste Management Solution. This solution comes up with the list of credible and certified eWaste buyers, ensuring enterprises to responsibly dispose their eWaste.
- Budget2Pay Procurement Suite: A comprehensive solution designed to simplify and optimize the complete procurement process, such as Planning-Requisition-Vendor Identification/Evaluation-Sourcing-Purchase Orders-Inward management-Payments.
Secrets of Lakshmi’s Entrepreneurial Journey
According to Lakshmi, “Learning and unlearning are always a continuous process and with every new challenge one evolves and every new interaction is an opportunity to learn something new.”
She says that it is her upbringing which instilled values in her and also her passion for solving everyday business problems leveraging technology. She has also mentioned that her children are the ones who help her to be balanced, centered and grounded. With a vision of more women coming into the industry, Lakshmi said, “I hope to see more women, especially in the IT sector building and leading product companies.”
Future Plans and Advice to the Society
Technology today is both accessible and empowering, according to Lakshmi. She advises people to leverage technology responsibly to solve everyday issues like creating awareness about citizenry rights, access to education and right information on healthcare that she believes would facilitate in the upbringing of a societal change.
While discussing the future plans of BOB eProcure, Lakshmi revealed, “Currently, we are well placed in terms of our product acceptance in the marketplace with our team of passionate, experienced professionals. We are looking at capturing few of the international markets in the coming quarter and continuing our growth rate of 20% YOY. Growth brings with it its own challenges; my key agenda would be to ensure our values don’t dilute and that my employees enjoy the ride as much as I do!”
Source :- Inspiring Stories of Indian Women Leaders in Business
