For as much as the word collaborate elicits sighs and thoughts of “not that cliché 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!

The power of collaboration within a trading partner community should not be underestimated.  Global Commerce Initiative (GCI) recently published a newsletter  updating the user community on the results of their first year’s work toward their 2016 value chain vision.  Two of the three key challenges they are attempting to address don’t surprise me, but maybe if you fall into the camp of covering your ears every time someone starts to say “collab…,” you might be somewhat shocked to know what they are:

1.       The industry should develop new ways of working together (emphasis THEIRS)
2.       The industry should more readily and freely share information (ditto)

The newsletter definitely warrants reading, as it touches on all the key buzz words and hot topics being bandied about in the B2B space today.  Many companies are concerned with social responsibility, sustainability, and bridging the cultural divide as well as cutting cost, increasing revenue, and improving time to market for new products and services.  GCI has done a great job of folding all of these disparate objectives into a unified vision.  And GCI set such a great example in the past several years of living the “working together” mantra, as they brought end user companies together to build input into the GS1 system of supply chain standards.

It’s not so much that they are giving us a new revelation – for example, they state that “information is the life blood of the value chain.”  I have always believed this to be true (anyone who’s read my past blog entries know this is an understatement).  However, when a group of companies meet together to talk about achieving a long-term value chain vision, and still arrive at this critical statement, it serves as a reminder that we often forget the basics as we try to blaze new frontiers in our B2B programs.  If we have fooled ourselves into thinking that we have already gotten it right – that information is always accurate across all of our internal systems, synchronized with all of our trading partners, and proliferating throughout all of our downstream supply chain transactions, we need to pinch ourselves a step back into reality.  We have a long way to go.  Just review the “current practices” bullets provided by GCI and you will see that a lot hasn’t yet changed in how we manage data.

What I take comfort in is that GCI and other groups have just as much passion about improving the foundations of supply chain collaboration as I do.  And they have participation from many multinational suppliers and retailers who join in their vision.  I look forward to 2016, when we have hopefully achieved the lofty goals they have set – and then perhaps I can retire early with a smile on my face!

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.

For years the retail and CPG space have struggled with new ways to share product data, only to be dismayed by the exorbitant costs and miniscule returns.  High-tech manufacturers scoff at the idea of trying to adopt the Global Data Synchronization Network because they see it for what it is: just another way, using another technology, to share data.  Sharing data isn’t the issue.  Making sure companies have complete and accurate data, and then keeping it that way, is the real challenge.

Leading companies will step up to the plate in 2008 and address the data quality issues by taking the first steps towards implementing solid B2B Data Management programs.  They will follow in the steps of a few groundbreakers that have already paved the way.  These data governance initiatives will need to address cultural, process and technical roadblocks that keep companies from successful supply chain execution.   Most important will be changing the cultural aspect, as data accuracy will need to become part of the fabric of the business.  The processes can be defined and supported by technology, but adherence and commitment will be the key to eliminating data quality problems.

While numerous tools have been introduced to address information management over the past several years, the focus of the tools themselves, those selling the tools, and the analysts covering them have been primarily on utilizing the tools to provide workflow for managing the flow of a subset of data within an enterprise (think Product Information Management in the B2B Data Management space).  Now we are starting to see (Gartner 30 November 2007 - Methodologies: Blueprints for Success With Data Quality Improvement) the focus of analysts shift to actually addressing data quality.  Smart executives will listen because this is something they can get their hands around.  If the decisions they are making are based on flawed data, if the financial statements they are signing are based on inaccurate numbers, if the deals they are agreeing too might not be what they think they are, then they and their companies are in trouble.

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.  True nirvana will only be achieved when a business takes all of the components into account – foundational data quality, continuous data synchronization, both internally and externally, transaction integrity for all downstream supply chain business interactions (more on this in a future blog – unless Bryan gets to it first), and 100% rollout to all trading partners.  Approaching any implementation initiative with all of these things in mind is having a true B2B data management strategy.  So, would you rather say, “let’s talk about improving B2B data management,” or “let’s talk about improving dataqualitydatasynchronizationtransactionintegrityandpartnerrolloutmanagement?”  And because I love clichés so much, I guess I should also point out that you don’t want to try and boil the ocean by solving all of these problems at once, but you definitely need to look at your requirements holistically.  Then, when you put the little “data quality” pot of water on the stove and see it start to bubble relatively quickly, you can take satisfaction in the accomplishment and move on to tackle the other gallons, liters, reservoirs, and seas of work ahead of you.

I have had the opportunity to discuss B2B data management with several customers in the past week.  Their needs are varied and vast, and this warms my heart as it will keep me busy thinking up new products and features for many months to come.  But I confess that I had a moment of panic in one of the meetings.  One client commented that they don’t think that integration is broken; they think the main problem lies in backend systems – or the lack thereof, particularly for many small-to-medium sized businesses.

Honestly, this caught me by surprise.  I mean, I work for a company that is in the B2B integration space, so if integration isn’t broken, how do I have any chance of coming up with new ways to help drive GXS into the future?

Another GXS blogger helped bring me back to reality.  It’s not necessarily that integration is broken, but that many companies still have a long way to go.  Thank you John, for reminding me that we still have great work to do.  And our customer was definitely also correct – backend systems are pretty much a mess.  I could probably write a novel on that topic, but let’s save that for another day and a different blog!

On a side note, I also wanted to point out that I really enjoyed John’s post on Cub Scouts and Continuous Visibility for two reasons: 1) it’s heartwarming to see that there are still people out there investing in our kids and teaching them survival, readiness, and social skills, and 2) he pointed out how any error early on in the process can lead to multiple challenges downstream.  A simple compass exercise shows that one mistake begins to accumulate as further points are plotted erroneously.  Luckily, in the case of the Cub Scouts, they have John to keep them on course.  And, fortunately for businesses, a sound B2B data management strategy can keep you on track for reduced costs, greater profits, increased productivity, and the whole ball of wax, too!