Ouercoming the obstacles

Systems Constraints - Current systems are not built on open, expandable architecture to allow them to grow with your business.

These obstacles stand in the way of establishing a trading system of record (TSOR)-the system of record capable of capturing trading related data across the entire company and within the supply chain for the purpose of continuous improvement. A TSOR built to integrate with current processes offers both users and management visibility into the supply chain. That visibility combined with ease of use directly address the last, often most difficult obstacle:

Cultural Barriers to Change - The change management hurdles associated with adopting new technology and modifying business processes.

Successful e-commerce firms will leverage industry knowledge and partnerships to deliver the TSOR that leverages existing IT infrastructure, integrates existing business practices and is easy to use. Companies that cannot overcome these obstacles will be victims of the shakeout.

Short-term, adoption rates will increase dramatically, driven by large players in the industry adopting collaborative commerce systems then demanding that their supply chain partners connect to those systems. During this period, we will see the ascension of the Marketplace Service Provider, the company that can provide both breadth and depth in e-commerce related services, the infrastructure to support those services and the expertise to integrate those services with present methods of operation. The MSP will emerge as the dominant business model for the long term.

In the long-term, I foresee that the shakeout we are experiencing will slow, eliminating the last of the weak ecommerce companies. The remaining companies will grow through acquisition and partnerships with industry players.

We anticipate that the next major obstacle to implementation will be the European rail dilemma; that is where many companies are operating their own branded solutions. To address the concern, the MSP must offer a solution flexible enough to allow companies to operate their own branded solution and integrate that with other branded solutions and public e-marketplaces. The future is linked solutions that allow companies to project and protect their brand while providing for smooth information flow up and down the supply chain. The goal is the ability to move seamlessly between e-marketplaces from the individual user's desktop. The critical components to success in this environment are the right architecture (flexibility), the right technology (integration), and flexible rules that give companies and users the ability to define how they want to operate and interact in the marketplace and allow them to leverage their existing IT infrastructure and business processes.

In summary, the key to short-term success is providing value in the business process. The key to long-term success is the ability of the solution to function with multiple e-marketplaces, whether they are branded solutions or public markets.