Match<IT>: data efficiency and intelligence connecting B2B IT services supply and demand

• Grant number: 23/06335-6
• Support Opportunities: Research Grants - Innovative Research in Small Business - PIPE
• Start date: October 01, 2023
• End date: September 30, 2025
• Field of knowledge: Physical Sciences and Mathematics - Computer Science - Computer Systems
• Principal Investigator: Roseane Jamile Lopes Ramos
• Grantee: Roseane Jamile Lopes Ramos
• Company: Match It Serviços de Tecnologia Ltda
• CNAE: Desenvolvimento e licenciamento de programas de computador customizáveis
• Pesquisadores principais: Marcelo da Silva Reis
• Associated researchers: Anderson de Rezende Rocha ; Pablo Andres Gottifredi ; Pedro Augusto Palhares Braga
• Associated research grant: 22/04248-6 - Match<IT>: a smart B2B platform for provision and selection of technology providers, AP.PIPE
• Associated scholarship(s): 24/12402-0 - Deep Dive: Assuring integration and synergy between research and userbase, BP.TT; 24/13609-8 - Backend and database optimization in order to perfect the recommendation of Sellers to Buyers, BP.TT; 23/17478-2 - Smart IT - identify patterns from the data collected, in order to model the business flow., BP.TT; + associated scholarships 24/00378-8 - Support in concatenating DevOps actions with agile methodologies, BP.TT; 24/02587-3 - Backend and database optimization to improve Sellers to Buyers recommendations, BP.TT; 23/14037-5 - Application of natural language processing to identify and classify the best supplier options for information technology projects based on textual descriptions., BP.TT; 23/15991-4 - Connection the research Phase 2 with the specialist IT market for the Sellers audience context, BP.TT; 23/17393-7 - Training, transfer learning, implementation, validation and testing of models for summarization and sentiment analysis of conversational models., BP.TT; 23/14115-6 - Content optimization and user attraction actions - Marketing Support, BP.TT; 23/14113-3 - Connection of Phase 2 of the research with the specialist IT market context for the Buyers audience., BP.TT; 23/15500-0 - Optimization of user base growth structures - Growth Marketing, BP.TT; 23/14039-8 - Mapping connections between Buyers and Sellers for intelligent recommendations on the MatchIT platform, BP.TT; 23/14127-4 - User Experience (UX) - Improvements to the platform's user-friendly interface structures, BP.TT - associated scholarships

Abstract

The global corporate market for Information Technology (IT) services corresponds to34% of all investment in IT by companies, grows at around 8% a year and will move more than US$ 1.5 trillion in 2023. Technology contracting companies, or Tech Buyers, expand with these investments the competitiveness and sustainability of its businesses. For the success of the investment, it is essential that there is not only the acquisition of market solutions but, above all, an efficient execution of services necessary for the implementation of the projects: consulting, integration, training, among others. In a scenario of great shortage of manpower specialized in technology, the most adequate source for the floating allocation of manpower for projects comes from Tech Sellers - companies that provide IT services. Despite the relevance of technology to business, contracting IT services is an arduous and costly task for Tech Buyers: according to Gartner, 74% of them assess the experience as complex and only 27% are satisfied with the results of the contracts. Currently, Buyers' search for Sellers is rudimentary, manual and based on personal relationships, thus contributing to centralization in a few previously approved suppliers. The situation is also inefficient for Tech Sellers, who spend low-return efforts in the search for ideal customers. An intelligent Business-to-business platform(B2B) for the supply and demand of IT services, whose first structuring steps are resulted from the PIPE Phase 1 project. Such a platform, called Match, allows the connections, or matches between the demands for services and portfolios of the companies, occur in an intuitive, efficient, intelligent and fast way, favoring relationships of trust and expanding the business generation networks in the B2B community. We seek an impartial process in nominating Sellers, which mitigates possibly deleterious biases, contributing to the egalitarian promotion of service supply practices, reducing risks for companies and expanding concepts of comparing options with fair opportunities. It is planned to apply research and development techniques involving three fronts: 1. Intelligent recommendations from suppliers through Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Natural Language Processing (NLP) algorithms - its technological solution stage is Solution stage technological (TRL) 5, with projection to reach TRL 7 in this project; 2. Data collection expanded significantly in relation to that carried out until then, using conversational interfaces and proactive data collection - currently at TRL 1, projected to reach TRL 6 in this project; 3. Incorporation of social network characteristics to the platform, establishing relationship connections between users and, in synergy with the use of AI and PLN, increasing trust in the ecosystem of IT providers - currently at TRL 1, with projection to reach TRL 6 at the end of this proposal. (AU)