B2B Managed Services with Mark Mixter

MS and KISS

K. I. S. S.  –it’s a well worn acronym “Keep it simple s____” (you can fill this one in) –it’s the advice given by every speech teacher I ever had, and one which we all wish would be applied to the tax code.

22,400,000. The number of results from a Google search on “Managed Services”.  Managed Services is getting more and more attention and support.  Research firms, (Gartner, AMR, Forrester, to name a few) and academic centers –Stanford Global Supply Chain Management Forum, are publishing their findings.  Organizations Automotive, Retail, Financial Services, Consumer Products, and Manufacturing are adopting a ‘Managed Services’ model as part of their business to business strategies .   

B2B Managed Services and SaaS?

One of the key value propositions for B2B Outsourcing is the ROI gained fromcontracting for B2B expertise and infastructure at a lower TCO than keeping all the people and infastructure in-house.   I'm not going to re-hash ROI model here as the growth of Managed Services sales (and those selling these solutions) is increasing significantly.   Instead I want to think about what it would take to deliver an outsourced Managed Service using the SaaS model.

 

Managed Services - the road to Data quality and integration

My fellow blogger Melanie has been waxing eloquently on both the state of grace which can be achieved by effective B2B data management only to reminded by another fellow blogger John about how far there still is to go in the integration space.

Both of these posts re-enforce (and refine with far more eloquence than I can muster) the motto of B2B Managed Services  -- Make it Work.

B2B as a Service - can it be done?

SaaS – Software as a Service is huge -A quick Google produced 1,620,000,000 hits.  Even SAP is jumping on the SaaS bandwagon – although not large customers.  (SAP Big business won't be interested )

SAP is making the bet they can deliver ERP services using a SaaS model to small clients (100-500 employees.)  What struck me most about this announcement is the competing view from Larry Ellison    Larry Ellison Says No To SaaS – namely that he doesn’t see how he can create a business models using SaaS as a delivery

So what about a B2B Managed Service?  Can the core elements of Data Transmission and Data Translation between trading partners be delivered via an SaaS model? 

Make It Work - the Managed Services motto

I'm really not that into fashion - just ask my co-workers, but my wife and daughter really enjoy 'Project Runway'.   If you've seen the show at all you'll have heard Tim Gunn use the title phrase of this blog.  "Make it Work".

I'm told, not being a fan of the show, Tim says to the contestants when they express  their concern about how much time they have left to finish sewing something.

"Make it Work'.  To me this sounds like the ideal motto for managed services.  I'm sure it's at least the goal of every B2B Managed Service project.

In my experience B2B projects and programs begin with a grand vision of the benefits (increased client satisfaction, accelerated revenue recognition, enhanced marketing prestige etc.) which will be realized when the project goes live.   But somewhere between launch and production, reality set’s in, and project team(s) need to rise to challenge and “make it work”.   Ideally the vision and reality would be aligned from the outset, but I haven’t seen that yet, have you?

Managed Services – What’s in the name?

My intent with this blog is to have a conversation about both current state as well as the future direction of B2B Managed Services, and so I’d like to begin by offering a view of what a B2B Managed Service actually is.  

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About Me

I am the senior global product manager for global outsourcing at GXS, a provider of B2B e-commerce integration solutions.� In this role, I am responsible for our Managed Services solution,�for which I determine strategy and product requirements based on market trends, research and customer requests. Along with various cross-functional teams, I ensure that high-quality, feature-rich software releases are rolled out to the GXS customer and prospect communities.�

I live in the Chicago area, which while presenting occasional climate challenges, is truly a great place to live and work.� My children (son age 5 and daughter age 9) keep me delightfuly busy but they and/or professional challenges threaten to overwhelm the balance of life I take refuge in theatrical production, good books - particulary history - and sports (soccer, swimming, cycling) and chess.