Monthly Archives: January 2009

Dead Company IV: Avoiding the GraveYard

In Parts I, II, and III, we talked about all the dumb things that many a dumb company failing the CIRCUIT are doing on the path to ultimate failure. So today we’re going to do something different and talk about the smart things a company can do if it wants to get off of the path to failure before it’s too late.

In addition to fattening up the marketing budget, keeping new development on the front burner, and bringing in expert consultants to insure the company stays on the straight and narrow, in his post Fear Kills Businesses, Dead, Brian Solis of TechCrunch offers twelve (12) targeted and affordable suggestions that a company can use to not only sustain, but grow in this economy.

  • SEO Optimization
    Keyword and organic search optimization is an inexpensive and effective means for gaining strategic presence and if you want the most bang for your buck, optimize your entire web campaign.
  • Blog Relations
    Creating a consistent and visible brand requires the inclusion of the authoritative, peer-to-peer blogs that your customers and influences read for information, help, and perspectives. And in this space, Spend Matters and Sourcing Innovation get more daily traffic than most, if not all, of the web sites that correspond to the traditional print publications.
  • Media/Analysts
    Analysts can position you as an option among your customers. Even though more and more professionals are turning to the blogs for their insights, the old school still listens to the analysts that they fork their money over too.
  • Direct Sales
    Some of the most successful companies concentrate on direct outreach to decision makers … and it doesn’t hurt to have some good positioning materials to support your sales people either!
  • CRM
    Building a customer-focussed business saves money and increases revenue.
  • Participate
    Participating across the social communities where your customers and prospects are active and vocal provides a looking glass into their thoughts, requests, opinions, dislikes, and recommendations. The companies that interact with their customers are the companies most likely to keep them.
  • Thought Leadership
    Share your thoughts openly and freely.
  • Blog and Blog Comments
    Find the time to contribute to a blog and demonstrate the expertise of you and your team. The opportunity it provides you is priceless.
  • Network in the Real World
    Industry events, local association meetings, and other gatherings are a great opportunity to get in touch with potential customers.
  • Involve Your Community
    Include your customers in the development process and get it right the first time.
  • Websites are Not Just Web Pages
    They’re a statement about you … and it better be one that your customers can connect with.
  • Innovate
    If it ain’t broken, don’t fix it, is the surest path to obsolescence. ‘Nuff said.

Integration-as-a-Service … What Does It Mean?

I recently stumbled upon an article published by Supply & Demand Chain Executive last summer on why customer-facing integration demands a better approach that claimed to provide a helpful guide to IaaS (Integration-as-a-Service) … and the last part in particular caught my attention. I’m a big fan of SaaS (Software-as-a-Service) because of it’s instant deployment nature in a manner that keeps the IT headaches with the provider (instead of transferring them to the customer who might not be very technically inclined), and I definitely think the -as-a-service paradigm is the way to go for many businesses who need to focus on their expertise and leave the rest to external experts. But is Integration-as-a-Service really achievable? There are many service companies that specialize in, and sometimes only do, integration … but given that every project is unique, can you really box it up? You can box the tools and the methodology but there’s still a custom configuration component that’s pretty hard to productize because it requires expertise and experience that only exists in a human head. So I read the article … and I was disappointed.

The article, which claimed that demand-side customer integration is much harder than supply-side because customer count can exceed supplier count by a factor of more than 50:1, especially in Fortune 500 companies, is essentially repackaging the marketplace concept, updating it to use a Service Oriented Architecture (SOA), and calling it the wave-of-the-future and a strategic enabler. While I believe that CI will deliver the returns that the author is claiming — 29% revenue increase, 10% margin premium, and 99%+ order accuracy — the marketplace methodology being proposed still has many of the drawbacks that caused them to fail the first time around because it is still stuck in the B2B 2.0 world.

Those of you who have taken the time to download and read the B2B 3.0 Illuminations know that B2B 1.0 solutions failed because of high bandwidth, high integration, high network-access costs, and the extraordinarily high data maintenance costs and that B2B 2.0 solutions, that ushered in the first marketplace boom, failed because of dynamic content limitations, limited search, relatively high access fees, and limited connectivity to your supplier or customer base due to network specialization. It’s true that SOA reduces platform construction and maintenance costs, which should theoretically reduce access fees, that SOA allows for significantly better search capability, and that SOA allows for near-real time catalog updates under a push-model, but it doesn’t help with initial integration because a potential user still has to connect their systems and map their internal data formats to the hub, and it certainly doesn’t do anything about the inherent network restriction to “like” member companies. This means that a company may still have large up-front integration costs, will have to develop and monitor scripts to “push” their updated content onto the network or still update their content manually, and will have to be on multiple networks if it wants to reach the majority of its customers, since many customers, especially in retail spaces where margins are slim, won’t be able to afford to be on many networks. In other words, it’s FAIL all over again because SOA doesn’t fix the primary issues that caused marketplaces to fail the first time around.

Thus, although I think the concept of Integration-as-a-Service — interpreted to mean that you use a Software-as-a-Service vendor who specializes in integration platforms and integration projects to create a virtual network for you to do business with your suppliers, customers, and other trading partners — is a great idea, because an IaaS vendor will have the up-to-date tools, methodologies, and expertise required to quickly, efficiently, and cost-effectively connect each of the systems used by the trading partners you connect with, I definitely don’t think a relaunch of the B2B 2.0 marketplaces is the way to go. I’d look at someone like Vinimaya (recently reviewed by the Sourcing Maniacs), with their B2B 3.0 platform that specializes in enterprise search and content management, for my content management and transaction needs; or someone like Integration Point (also reviewed by the Sourcing Maniacs), with their wealth of experience in integrating disparate (legacy) systems into their SaaS globvl trade visibility platform, for my trade documentation and trade management needs. Done right, IaaS is certainly a logical extension to SaaS, and achievable in the respect that a third party will do it for you, but it has to be B2B 3.0.

To find out more about B2B 3.0, check out the inaugural Sourcing Innovation Illuminations, now available for quick and easy download with No Registration Required!

1. Introducing B2B 3.0 and Simplicity for All
2. Simplifying B2B for Suppliers Enables Buyers
3. Content Enablement Technologies Enable e-Procurement 3.0

More Success in only 20 Minutes a Day, Part II

Today we continue with our list of 20 Things You Can Do in 20 Minutes to Be More Successful at Work, tweaked to the supply management profession, to help you improve your game in 2009.

  • Knock on a New Door
    In order to provide strategic value, you have to understand how the business operates. Find out what drives profit and revenue, why the business spends on the products and services it buys, and if there are alternatives that could save money while providing the same level of value to the organization.
  • Is This The Job For You?
    Even if you’re in charge of the supply management organization, you don’t have to go down with the ship. If it’s not the right job for you, if you find that you’re just going through the motions or that you’re not excited when you get into work in the morning, you need to re-evaluate your position and whether you intend to go forward in your current organization, or a different one.
  • Peace, Love, and Understanding
    Pick a stakeholder in your organization and invite him or her to give you and your team a quick 15 minute presentation at what he or she does at your next 20-minute meeting. The more you understand your stakeholders’ needs, the better you’ll be at your job.
  • Get Linked-In
    The networking, discussion, and presentation tools may still be first generation, but they provide a great way to get in contact, and stay in contact, with your peers, share information, and ask questions that can lead to new and provocative insights. Don’t forget to join some groups.
  • Secure Your Data
    Your data is often the source of your competitive advantage. It should stay in your secure systems, and not in spreadsheets on your insecure laptop. Take the time to remove any sensitive data that might be lying around unsecured on your laptop, importing any that you need to save into your secure applications.
  • Talk to IT
    Make sure they understand what applications you use, and what you need to do your job effectively.
  • Listen to New Grads
    Ask your new recruits for ideas to improve the efficiency, productivity, and quality of your processes and workplace. They might lack experience, but today’s graduates are highly educated, tapped into new technology, and often very creative. Their ideas, seasoned with your experience, are often what you need to get out of a rut.
  • “Get” Your Vendor
    Your solution providers can improve your processes and technologies, and find savings you never knew existed, but the only way you can maximize your return is if you understand what they need from you to be the best they can be. Just about any best-of-breed consulting firm can come in and take 10% off the top of any category that’s in their area of expertise, but if you want 30% off the top, you have to understand how they work, what information they need, and how you help them help you.
  • Get Mobile
    Make sure everyone on the team has an iPhone or BlackBerry so that they can communicate and collaborate from wherever they happen to be. Remember, this is the networked generation, and they don’t always work in an office.
  • Go SaaS
    And your applications go with you.

And, finally,

  • Read Sourcing Innovation every day.
    Go back and read a post from the archives in addition to the day’s post. Not only are most posts bursting at the seams with educational content, but you’ll often take away more from a second read than you will from the first.

More Success in only 20 Minutes a Day, Part I

Last February, CIO ran a great article on 20 Things You Can Do in 20 Minutes to Be More Successful at Work, which had some great advice for those of you looking to improve your game in 2009. As the article notes, not all changes require a military campaign. There are things you can do in just one-third of an hour that can have a meaningful and, yes, even a long-term, positive effect on your life, your job, and your enterprise. And when the suggestions are tweaked to the supply management profession, as I will do in this post, you know it’s worth the effort.

  • Counter Intelligence 101
    Grab the annual 10-K reports that your top competitors have filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission and read the section called “Management’s Discussion and Analysis” that describes what happened to the company in the past year that was good and bad. Look for anything supply management related to see where additional opportunities might lie for you.
  • The Mini-Meeting
    Reschedule all of your internal supply management meetings for just 20 minutes … as the article notes, there’s only about 15 to 30 minutes of true productivity in most meetings, even though most last an hour or more. If there’s too much to cover, hold another mini-meeting the next day after you’re refreshed. And, finally, cancel all regularly scheduled meetings … you should only meet to discuss major decisions, not minor ones.
  • Business Intelligence 201
    Pay attention to projects that didn’t meet expectations last year … then think about how new processes and technologies could help you do better next time around, and make sure you get those processes and technologies in place before the category comes up for re-sourcing.
  • Your Solution Provider, Revealed
    Ask your most important software and service providers to conduct an assessment of their relationship with your organization. Then ask them to present their top three ideas for improving the relationship and providing more value to you, their customer. You might be pleasantly surprised.
  • Self-Knowledge is Power
    Take a good look inward and ask yourself if you’re working toward something with a tangible ROI or just going through the motions. If it’s the latter, figure out what you can do to get back on track.
  • Call a Customer
    Pick up the phone and call the various individuals in your organization that are the most affected by your sourcing decisions and ask them how you’re doing, what they like about the current contract, what they don’t like, and what you can do better. After all, if you’re not meeting their needs, you’re not doing your job.
  • Forget E-Mail
    If you’re a best-in-class organization, you probably have a plethora of best-of-breed procurement tools at your finger tips … and chances are that at least one of these will have an internal collaboration platform. Use the tools you have to their full potential … you have them because e-mail and spreadsheets don’t allow you to achieve maximum potential.
  • Say Yes to Training for You and Your Staff
    Best-in-class organizations are best-in-class for a reason … they do everything they can to stay best-in-class, which includes regular training. And the great thing about (good) supply management training is the return is always exponentially greater than the investment. Just do it.
  • Communicate with Everyone
    Talking to representatives of the different groups in your organization gives you a more complete and cohesive view of organizational realities that you aren’t likely to get simply from conversing with your peers on a daily basis.
  • Go for a Walk
    Not only will it reduce your risk of heart attack, keep your weight down, and help you manage stress … but it will clear your mind to help you think more clearly and creatively … and we all know that innovation is the path to success.

Come back tomorrow for the next 10 things you can do to increase your success in only 20 minutes a day!

Back to Business Basics with B2B 3.0

All the experts finally agree — it’s a recession and we need to get back to basics if our businesses are going to survive. The question is, after years of irrational exuberance, do you remember what the basics are? I’ll give you a hint … good spend and supply management professionals practice them every day. That’s right, smart spending — backed by smart research, smart processes, smart people, and smart technologies — that delivers value to you and your customers is the basics of good business. And if you forget what that means, and can’t find any procurement professionals nearby, you can also just ask anyone born without a silver spoon in his or her mouth who had to work their way through University, work to get that first job, and work to get ahead. Having survived good times and bad, they’ll tell you that, no matter what, integrity, hard work, and an eye on communication, relationship management, and productivity is the way to go.

So what does this have to do with B2B 3.0? Well, in these times you have to spend less, do more, and provide more value if you want to keep existing business and have any chance at all in winning new business. This means that you need to step up your productivity, and this will require better processes enabled by better systems. However, if you are still in the B2B 2.0 world, better systems cost more money, and chances are you’ve paid too much for the systems you have as it is.

But if you embrace the B2B 3.0 world, you’ll find that better systems cost less, not more, and deliver more value than their old-school counterparts ever could. This is because B2B 3.0 solutions take advantage of the true power of the Internet and the new SaaS delivery model while 2.0 solutions are confined to expensive and proprietary networks and delivery models. B2B 3.0 solutions are built to be multi-tenant and leverage an economy of scale from the ground up, while B2B 2.0 solutions are still force-fitting classical architectures onto expensive hosted ASP delivery models. This also means that B2B 3.0 can leverage the power, knowledge, and innovation of the community it creates while 2.0 creates isolated user groups, who have to struggle just to exchange limited amounts of information.

Furthermore, B2B 3.0 is agile. It gives you visibility into your business, helps you organize your institutional knowledge in a central repository where everyone can take advantage of it, and enables the implementation — and maintenance — of best practices. This increases your productivity, and does so at a lower cost since true SaaS providers leverage economies of savings and pass those savings onto you, and allows you to spend more time on communication, relationship management, and finding new ways to bring even more value to your customers. In other words, unlike the technology evolutions that preceded it, B2B 3.0 is the first true technology revolution that lets you get back to basics.

To find out more about B2B 3.0, check out the inaugural Sourcing Innovation Illuminations, now available for quick and easy download with No Registration Required!

1. Introducing B2B 3.0 and Simplicity for All
2. Simplifying B2B for Suppliers Enables Buyers
3. Content Enablement Technologies Enable e-Procurement 3.0