We are continuing to look at how some of the companies here in the Rubicon are adapting to a working from home structure. This week we spoke with Alan Holland, Founder and CEO of Keelvar. After working as a lecturer in Artificial Intelligence in the Computer Science Department, University College Cork, Alan founded Keelvar in September 2012. In its first year of operation Keelvar was awarded ‘Cork Company of the Year’ in the small company category.Keelvar specializes in Advance Sourcing Optimization and Sourcing Automation for enterprise procurement. Using advanced algorithms and AI-enabled automation, Keelvar helps those sourcing goods and services to apply best practice to managing RfQs and auctions. Keelvar received the accolade of Gartner Cool Vendor 2018 and serves some of the world’s largest companies including Siemens, Primark, M&S, Logitech from our HQ in Cork, Ireland and regional offices in Dallas, Dublin, London, Berlin and Rio de Janeiro.
While navigating through the current climate we find ourselves in it is important to focus on the positives. Alan believes that him and his staff are lucky due to the variety of technology they can access to carry out their daily work. They are utilising online conference facilities such as google hangouts, zoom etc. in order to keep up communications between staff. Alan feels that it is important that they use different programmes to conduct conferences as you can’t always rely on one platform, it is too risky at a time like this to be resting your laurels. By utilising different platforms Keelvar are ensuring that they are managing throughout this time of uncertainty.
As a business Keelvar serves different industries. Some of these industries are taking a hit during this pandemic but for others such as transport, pharmaceuticals and food services business is booming. Alan and his staff can now focus their time on assisting customers that are seeing a surge in demand for their business. While those at Keelvar are currently busy maintaining the business from home it is important to remain in constant contact to keep up to date on progress and issues arising. There is an emphasis in maintaining contact online and conducting regular meetings and sync ups in order to stay connected. As Keelvar is primarily online this move to working from home has not caused any major impacts to the running of the business which is a positive for all of those involved.
Sticking to a routine is something that Alan feels is important in ensuring you remain successful when working from home. It is also motivating to be able to assess any progress you have made and this in turn fuels further motivation. Keelvar are in a good position when it comes to dealing with their customers. Prior to the pandemic and the need for staff to work at home they were already operating remotely when it came to their customers. The bots that Keelvar use work 24/7 and keep an eye on their customers’ markets. This provides them with a robust solution unlike with some businesses who may be facing difficulties as they rely on a physical office which may currently be closed due to lockdown. As their customers are predominantly multinationals all prior communication was conducted through the means that the majority of companies now must utilise. For Keelvar this has led to minimal disruption overall when dealing with customers.
While the weeks ahead may be uncertain, there is one thing for sure. Keelvar are ready to face this challenge head on and work to the best of their abilities.
For more information on Keelvar and their work visit Keelvar.
