In my post earlier this week I explained how every company needs a C-3PO to speak the many different languages that are used in electronic business. But to truly be successful in B2B, you need not only need to translate different types of messages and protocols like a C-3PO would provide, but you also need [...]
Read More» With the holiday season approaching it is the time for giving. So for the next 30 days, you can receive your free copy of my book – Herding Geese, the Story of the Information Supply Chain. The book explains how companies in the health care, financial services, manufacturing, retail and government sectors are using B2B e-commerce [...]
Read More» Over the past 12 months there has been some amazing growth in the size of supplier networks in the e-invoicing and e-procurement sector. A few vendors have managed to double the size of their networks by adding hundreds of thousands of participants in relatively short periods of time. Are these supplier networks experiencing Facebook-like growth [...]
Read More» Aspen trees are quite common in the Western United States, particularly in the high elevations of the Rocky Mountains. One of the most fascinating things about Aspen trees is the inter-relationships between all the members of a particular colony. From above the surface all the trees in a forest appear to be independent organisms, growing [...]
Read More» Last week at our annual customer forum, several of our customers and a few GXSers decided to create some electronic invoicing jokes. This is what happens when you put 250 B2B professionals together for a few days and serve them alcohol. Jeff Eckel, the GXS product manager for our Data Quality and Compliance Service, presented the [...]
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Are you considering another update or version of your B2B integration software? Is an important customer demanding a new business process that your current software does not support? If so, it may be time to pause and reevaluate your overall approach to B2B integration. Should you continue with your current software-based approach or should you [...]
Read More» One of the features I like most about Google+ is the concept of circles. Unfortunately, although millions of people have joined Google+ the activity levels are still very low as compared to other social networks. Even though the concept of circles has not been successful in the consumer space, I think there is a great [...]
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For retailers, meeting customer demand no longer relies on how much free space is in your back room. Online shopping has helped retailers open up their channels and satisfy even the pickiest of consumers. Now, you can carry the most popular products as well as those green glitter wedges that may only appeal to 1 [...]
Read More» In an earlier post I described the need for a social graph for the supply chain. The social graph would outline the various relationships between companies at different tiers of the supply chain. Such a mapping would be useful when unforeseen disasters such as earthquakes, floods, tsunamis, plant explosions and salmonella outbreaks occur leading to [...]
Read More» Yesterday, SAP announced its intention to acquire B2B e-commerce vendor, Ariba for $4.3 billion. In addition to its suite of spend management and procure-to-pay applications, Ariba has built up one of the world’s largest business networks with over 700,000 members. The presentation materials issued following the announcement stated that “Ariba will enable SAP to create [...]
Read More» If you’ve been following you’ll recall I got a little distracted by a webinar featuring Marks and Spencer, how they engaged with their supplier community and automatically processed millions of invoices. As I pointed out, (before I got distracted), it surprised me to discover that there are over 500 companies across the globe who use [...]
Read More» I attended IOMA’s 8th Annual Accounts Payable Automation & Operations Conference in New York City last week during which attendees from companies in various industries had the opportunity to hear the latest news about various technologies and methodologies for automating their AP departments. Here are a few of the key ideas that were discussed during [...]
Read More» Last Thursday, SWIFT announced that it had been instructed by the European Union to disconnect all of the sanctioned Iranian banks from its global financial network. SWIFT’s CEO, Lázaro Campos, stated that “Disconnecting banks is an extraordinary and unprecedented step for SWIFT. It is a direct result of international and multilateral action to intensify financial [...]
Read More» As we look back on the pattern of investment activity in B2B e-commerce between 2000 and 2010, I think we can safely declare that there was a Lost Decade. During these 10 years there were numerous attempts to revolutionize various industries with new B2B technologies. However, most of these initiatives met with only modest levels [...]
Read More» For several years now there has been an ongoing debate in the industry about how strategic information technology is to businesses. Some, such as Nicolas Carr, have argued that IT is now ubiquitous and no longer offers strategic advantages to businesses. Working for an IT vendor, I have an inherent bias towards arguing that IT [...]
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