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SME Case Study
SME Case Study
Jared Mitchell – 4 April 2021
Tags:
Digital Profession (/taxonomy/term/445)
Digital sourcing and ICT procurement (/taxonomy/term/25)
The Digital Marketplace has helped indigenous small, medium enterprise (SME), Towcha
Technology, to increase their visibility and help them grow their business.
Towcha and the Digital Marketplace
Since its inception, the Digital Marketplace has increased government visibility and
access to SME sellers and innovative solutions, as the following case study example
demonstrates.
The SME seller experience
Towcha is one of over 50 Indigenous businesses on the Digital Transformation Agency’s (DTA’s)
Digital Marketplace, through which it has gained several government contracts, including with
Services Australia and the Bureau of Meteorology.
As an entirely Indigenous-owned company, Towcha now employs 12 people. It is currently
approved against 4 categories on the Digital Marketplace and certified as an Indigenous
Supplier with Supply Nation.
“The really good thing about the Digital Marketplace is we are now more
discoverable as a business. This affords us greater opportunity to be considered for,
and potentially win government work” – Alan Holmes, Managing Director, Towcha
Technology
“We simply don’t have the large budget of large organisations to promote our business."
“So, we regularly use the Digital Marketplace to get visibility and access to government
opportunities and, in turn, provides visibility of our business and capability."
“And this has allowed us to grow the business.”
According to Holmes what the Digital Marketplace has done particularly well in recent years is
expanding the category offering and increasing the Indigenous business footprint.
“When we first joined the Digital Marketplace, there were only a few broad categories."
“That has now expanded to 15 and this allows SMEs to specialise their capability and not be
too broad with their offerings."
“We also have partnerships with some larger firms and hopefully with the new platform
integration category, this might enable us to get access to larger transformational projects."
“The growth of Aboriginal businesses on the Marketplace has been encouraging for the
Indigenous digital sector and for government buyers."
“A couple of years ago there were only five, but now there is over 50.”
Holmes offers some helpful advice for SMEs considering joining the Digital Marketplace.
“I believe it is increasingly important for SMEs to better articulate their case studies when being
assessed for various categories."
“My advice is to focus on what you can do and don’t be too broad. And focus particularly on
how you can assist government arrive at cost-effective solutions.”
Visit the
Digital Marketplace (https://marketplace.service.gov.au/) to find out more
about seller and buyer experiences and opportunities open to sellers and buyers.
Contact the Digital Marketplace team at xxxxxxxxxxx@xxx.xxx.xx
(mailto:xxxxxxxxxxx@xxx.xxx.xx).
About Towcha
Towcha Technology (https://towcha.com.au/) delivers for government buyers, leading-edge
innovations that solve complex problems. Digital services include: system integration,
implementation, data conversion, account management and project management.
It is also a member of the Victorian Aboriginal Chamber of Commerce Kinaway, ad part of the
Indigenous Defence Consortium, which delivers national-building defence projects.
About the Digital Marketplace
Established in 2016, the Marketplace is an innovative online sourcing platform for buyers and
sellers. It is always open for businesses to join. Key features include:
a simple, clear and fast sourcing experience.
Driving SME outcomes – Over 767 unique SMEs have won work via the Digital
Marketplace
of the over 8,000 contracts awarded to sellers on the Marketplace, 5,673 contracts have
been awarded to SMEs (Source: AusTender)
65% of total contracted value has been awarded to SMEs.
the
Digital Marketplace website (https://marketplace.service.gov.au/)
The Digital Marketplace is administered by the Digital Transformation Agency along with other
whole-of government
ICT procurement arrangements (/help-and-advice/ict-
procurement/digital-sourcing-framework-ict-procurement/ict-procurement-taskforce-report).
Digital Marketplace fact file
(/sites/default/files/images/content/Digital%20Marketplace%20fact%20file.png)
© Commonwealth of Australia. With the exception of the Commonwealth Coat of Arms and
where otherwise noted, this work is licensed under the CC BY 4.0 license.
