World-wide vendor management leader Avetta which appears to have the oil and gas and other industries locked up now has a formidable competitor in wireless, Complī, a platform available from ABIS Solutions, a leading technology firm that has made inroads with NATE: The Communications Infrastructure Contractors Association and the National Wireless Safety Alliance (NWSA).
Introducing the company’s qualification and compliance software that makes it easy and affordable for telecom vendors to be compliance-verified, co-founder Brian Davidson informed Wireless Estimator that initial clients include Vertical Bridge, Nokia, SAC Wireless and Tower Engineering professionals.
Although there have been rumors that Dish Network and others will be coming on board, Davidson said that he could not address specific companies, but did say they will be announcing new clients shortly.
“What we did differently was we spent months just listening to NATE and NWSA to correct everything they [contractors] were annoyed with,” he said.
NATE recently polled its 500-plus contractor members with a survey designed to identify issues they were having with third-party vendor management firms. It is not known if they will be releasing the results.
The two key vendor management firms are Avetta and BROWSE, which Avetta acquired in February 2019. In a Q&A with Wireless Estimator in November, they said that the migration for companies like Crown Castle would be completed by this September. However, if it goes beyond the third quarter it is likely neither the client nor Avetta will identify who is at fault and contractors will again not see the economies of scale expected following the merger.
Davidson said that his firm has pinpointed that the average wireless contractor has approximately 18 employees and they designed the Complī program to allow for up to 20 technicians at an annual fee of $1,000.
Amongst other competitive advantages, he said that users will be able to identify the percentage of NWSA TTT-1 and TTT-2 technicians a company has and they can validate an individual’s certification.
He emphasized that his company does not share any names or any other information regarding certified individuals.
Davidson said that Complī goes beyond document management with valuable features that include:
- Verification down to the individual technician, not just at the company level.
- Powerful messaging and bulletin management; enhancing communications for clients and vendors.
- An industry-wide forum with Q&A, event notices, training access, and community boards.
- Email reminders when vendor and technicians’ certifications are due to expire.
- A unique vendor networking exchange providing intros to new clients.
“As members of this industry and NATE, we take safety and training very seriously. We affirmed our commitments to these principles when we made NWSA certification requirements a mandatory part of our contracts and agreements with our vendors and partners last year. Complī is a trusted platform that allows us to track our vendors’ health and safety compliance, records, and certifications as needed,” said Bernard Borghei, Executive Vice President of Operations and Co-Founder of Vertical Bridge, who also is a member of the NWSA’s Board of Governors.
Whether it had been previously planned or is a defensive move to thwart competition, Avetta is reportedly considering lowering its pricing models, according to a source knowledgeable of the company’s objectives.