Member Question:

From the “Theory of Constraints” there is poor Herbie, the infamous bottleneck in the supply chain pipeline. For any of you who use the Oracle Supply Chain 11.5.9 (or above) platform, is there any built-in “Herbie” that you’ve noticed, or has it been custom code wrapped around vanilla, that effected you most?

New York City, U.S.

My Response:

After reading your question, I could not help but think of my Dad at Christmas time when he painstakingly had to test each bulb to find the one that did not work and replace it before the entire string would light up. (Note: for those of you born within the last 25 to 30 years, this will make absolutely no sense beyond the analogy itself.)

Introduced by Eliyahu M. Glodratt in his 1984 book titled "The Goal," the inherent flaw in the Theory of Constraints (TOC) philosophy is similar to that of the old "chain" of Christmas lights in which one bulb could bring down the entire string. In short, and in accordance with the TOC's five steps of focus ...

Network Member Question:

What does the term "financial supply-chain" mean to you?

Enrico Camerinelli, Finance Director Europe's consultant editor for supply-chain has developed a short online survey on this subject - should take a couple on mins for you to complete - would be grateful if you could take time out to complete - the web link to the survey is as follows:

http://www.keysurvey.com/survey/189939/e7f6/

Look forward to hearing your views


Question Submitted By:
Steve 'Dunkerley'
Project Director - Finance Director Europe (FDE)
United Kingdom

My Answer:

Over a 14 year period with funding from the Government of Canada's Scientific Research and Experimental Development (SR&ED) Program, I led an at times sizeable research team that investigated the utilization of agent-based models to develop tools that would operate in an adaptive Metaprise platform.

Based on my findings, which have been well documented, the term supply "chain" is actually a misnomer. A reference I might add ...

Network Member Question:

Does anyone have any experience with a company called Ariba and their ability to do spend analysis for a procurement group?

Question Submitted By:
Patrick
Program Manager
United States

My Answer:

It is interesting that you ask this question, as I did an interview (actually a series of interviews) that were initiated by Ariba's senior VP this past summer.

Titled The Ariba Interviews: Re-engineering the Future of On-Demand (see below for the URL Link to the full article), it was a very interesting discussion on a number of levels.

To begin, Ariba as is the case with most Tier One vendors have had their difficulties in delivering on the promised ROI. In fact, numerous industry studies indicate that approximately 85% of all initiatives actually fail to deliver the results. Again, this problem is not indegenous to Ariba alone. Oracle (with the VHA, Province of BC) and SAP (City of Houston, King County and Sobey's) clearly demonstrate the inherent flaws in traditional ...

Network Member Question:

Many research firm has predicted SAAS is going to become a next level Application Development.

1.How can i convert a existing applications into SAAS based Apps.

2.What are requirements need to develop a SAAS based Applications.

Question Submitted By:
Rajasekar Nonburaj
Business Intelligence Consultant
India

My Answer:

While Software as a Service (SaaS) is a model offered by many of the "next generation" vendors such as COUPA, it is not indegenous to new organizations or to a specific "emerging" technology.

Based on my series of interviews with an Ariba senior executive I wrote an article titled The Ariba Interviews: Re-engineering the Future of On-Demand (http://procureinsights.wordpress.com/2007/08/31/the-ariba-interviews-re-engineering-the-future-of-on-demand/).

SaaS, which was originally referred to as an On-Demand model, is not new to the industry. However its adoption and subsequent introduction to the market by incumbent vendors such as Ariba and SAP ...

Network Member Question:

Now, Microsoft has bought and released Accounting Software too.

Is it happening that they will monopoly in this sector too?

Question Submitted By:
Md. Elias Kabir
CS Analyst at Warid Telecom International Limited
Bangladesh

My Answer:

The Mendocino Project: A Brilliant Strategy by Microsoft and SAP to Sidestep Anti-Trust Legislation?

Earlier this month I wrote a commentary regarding Microsoft’s purported plans to acquire SAP (December 5th, 2007). While the main focus of my thinking was on the direct (or indirect) impact such an action would have at the client “operational” level, one response viewed the situation through the lens of anti-trust legislation. Specifically, that “anti-trust regulation at both sides of the ocean will put these rumors to rest. If MS + SAP is not a monopoly then what is.”

On the surface this appears to be a reasonable train of thought, however a Microsoft acquisition of SAP would for all intents and purposes merely formalize the foundational ...

Question:

Looks like the US is in a recession, based on the latest data on service sector contraction. Question: Will a recession help or hurt business adoption of open source software?

I've written a short blog on this subject and have a poll running - I'd love your feedback and thoughts.

Here's the link: http://jocsflorals.blogspot.com/2008/02/will-recession-help-or-hurt-open-source.html

Thanks!

Question Submitted By:
Greg Wallace
Co-founder and CMO/CEO
Emu Software

USA

My Answer:

This is a subject which is of great interest to me personally as I have been tracking the transition of traditional software licensing models to the present day Software as a Service (SaaS) model since 1998 (my recent Ariba interview post reviewed the emergence of SaaS at some length). The question that my ongoing research has attempted to answer is if SaaS is a sustainable model or merely a transitory link or bridge to FOSS? The fact that the City of Houston “shifted” to a FOSS platform in response ...

In an excerpt from a December 21st post in the Procurement Insights Blog titled The Mendocino Project: A Brilliant Strategy by Microsoft and SAP to Sidestep Anti-Trust Legislation see below), the influence of Microsoft's ubiquity in the marketplace was discussed in terms of providing the vendors' with a competitive advantage.

Question: What level of impact would a "merger" either in reality or practice between Microsoft and SAP have on the market as a whole?

Blog Excerpt:

Earlier this month I wrote a commentary regarding Microsoft’s purported plans to acquire SAP (December 5th, 2007). While the main focus of my thinking was on the direct (or indirect) impact such an action would have at the client “operational” level, one response viewed the situation through the lens of anti-trust legislation. Specifically, that “anti-trust regulation at both sides of the ocean will put these rumors to rest. If MS + SAP is not a monopoly then what is.”

On the surface this appears to be a reasonable train of thought, ...