Data Synchronization : Building Blocks for B2B with Melanie Ligons

Cloud Computing and Batman

When I first heard about the concept of Cloud Computing about 18 months ago, my first reaction was – “This must be a joke!”  How is “Cloud Computing” different than Utility Computing; Grid Computing; On Demand; Storage Service Providers; Storage as a Service; Software as a Service; and Application Service Providers?  These are all new terms created by the IT industry over the past 10 years to describe the arrival of the ultimate, disruptive paradigm shift in computing.  All of these terms are just variants of the same business model – hosted services managed by a third party provider with virtualized architectures, rapid scalability and a usage based billing model.

The malaise of mail-order

A recent article in The Wall Street Journal (subscription required) describes challenges being faced by some mail-order catalog providers.  While the focus of the article primarily revolves around the housing downturn and the rising costs associated with paper and postage, I read between the lines to draw my own takeaways.

In consideration of global consumers

I have been working in our Bangalore office this week.  It has been an exciting week so far – my first trip to India, and what more could I ask for than to be spending time in their own “silicon valley”?  I must say that the employees here have been so hospitable, the hotel we are staying in is amazing, and there is no shortage of foods to fit all tastes!

Supply chain leaders in apparel, please stand up!

Well-known research firm AMR released their Supply Chain Top 25 last month.  While many household names appear on the list, particularly in the personal technology and consumer goods sectors, the absence of companies in the department store and fashion categories is powerfully felt by loyal followers like me.

Going green means revisiting your data synchronization implementation

For companies who have synchronized their data with a couple of trading partners and consider themselves “done with data sync” – it’s time to think again!  Most of us realize that any global topic that receives ongoing media attention will impact us, at least in some small way, and green initiatives are no different.

Adoption…the Mount Everest of data synchronization

At 29,028 feet and situated between Tibet and Nepal, Mount Everest today became a metaphor for data synchronization – in my mind, anyway.

Ready, set, collaborate…I beg your pardon?!

For as much as the word collaborate elicits sighs and thoughts of “not that clich word again!”, outside of the B2B integration space, most people don’t even know what it means.  Most of my family and friends tell people that I work in Accounting.  I guess the explanation that I help gather customer requirements for developing on demand software applications that allow trading partners to collaborate effectively and realize increased supply chain efficiency doesn’t really go down like a spoonful of sugar!

B2B Data Management: It’s the Data Stupid

2008 will be the year when companies finally understand that the real challenge holding their companies back in the automated supply chain is lack of data quality.  Information integrity issues associated with products and transactions reduce the ability of an organization to make appropriate short and long term decisions.  Corporations have been hording data for years while analysts and consultants told them to do something with it.  Now that business intelligence solutions are taking a primary place in the spotlight, companies are realizing that the data they’ve been hording is flawed.  And so is the data they are using to run their business on a day to day basis.

Can I super-size that item?

I was recently in a fast-food drive through – a rare indulgence I would have avoided altogether were it not for ravenous hunger and a late hour.  I won’t say which restaurant it was, protecting the McInnocent and all – but the driver of the car in front of me ordered a combo meal and said, “super size, please.”  Having watched the movie Super Size Me and hearing about the fallout, I knew this offering no longer appeared on the menu, but I guess, not unlike everyone’s favorite corner coffee monopoly, experienced users know they can ask for things not on the menu.

B2B Data Management and the Potato, Potahto Debate

One of our other bloggers, Bryan Larkin, recently began using the phrase “B2B Data Management.”  I can’t say for sure if he coined it, but he’s the first person I ever heard say it.  And I absolutely LOVE it!  Because the truth is, data synchronization alone will not bring about world peace – though I expressed my hopes for this in a past blog.