The Best-Run Businesses Run SAP

If only there was a Snopes for enterprise software – the definitive reference source for urban legends, myths, rumors and mis-information.  Alas, it doesn’t exist, so allow me the pleasure of busting a few myths about enterprise software for midsize companies in the wholesale distribution industry.

Everyone wants to grow their business, right? If not, then why are you in business? Small, niche software providers will approach you with a very tailored offering to your particular micro-vertical within the wholesale industry. What they don’t tell you is that it will work for your business as it is today, but not for your business as it grows and morphs over time.

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SAP today announced the appointment of Lori Mitchell-Keller to senior vice president and head of the Global Retail Industry Business Unit. As SAP continues to expand its portfolio of innovative solutions for retailers, Mitchell-Keller will oversee the delivery of end-to-end solutions that help customers build unified sales channels, consumer-driven supply networks and integrated merchandising and marketing programs. Read the newsbyte.

In his study of world affairs, distinguished professor James N. Rosenau captured the irreducible complexity[i] on the world stage in 1997 by observing that “history is not one damn thing after another so much as it is many damn things simultaneously.”   Those managing retail operations can easily substitute ‘retail’ for ‘history’ and thus capture the complexity of being a retailer. In that spirit, retailers will not find any panaceas in our emergent age of contradictions with the absolute and unprecedented rise of consumer power.  (more…)

The big three: cloud, mobile, social. Or CloMoSo to those in the know, like Neetin Datar, senior director of Industry Marketing for Wholesale Distribution at SAP. He explains how CloMoSo brings business value to wholesale distributors. Read the full SAP.info article.

In his previous blog post Andy Dé discussed how visionary retail and consumer products companies were at the forefront of deploying social media (and mobility where relevant) to engage with their customers using a ’7 Stage Social Media (and mobility) Value and ROI Life cycle Model’. He now focuses on the best practices in Social Media from Consumer Products specifically in the light if stages 5, 6, 7 of his life cycle model. Read the full blog post.

In a previous blog post Andy Dé has explained how social media is being adopted and leveraged in a Healthcare context. In his latest article he focuses on the question of what the value and return on investment (ROI) from Social Media initiatives is. If you are interested in learning more read his ’7 Stage Social Media (and mobility) Value and ROI Life cycle Model’ evaluating best practices in retail and consumer products. (more…)

Real-time data analysis, collaboration à la Facebook, and forecasts thanks to BI features – SAP Business Suite has received a number of interesting new functions. We’ll show you what Innovations 2010 offers to SAP users. Read the full SAP.info article.

Sustainability is no longer only a back-of-mind topic for retail companies, according to a joint study conducted by SAP and the Chair of Logistics Management at the University of St. Gallen in Switzerland. The study, titled “Sustainability in Retail: Challenges – Strategies – Implementation,” reveals that sustainability has become an indispensable part of retailers’ core business and competitive positioning. Read the newsbyte.

In a recent re-read of Peter Drucker’s classic The Effective Executive (1966), I found myself pondering its relevance 45 years hence amid the immense changes in society and technology. My conclusion is that it has withstood the test of time. Drucker identified successful companies as those that pursue new technologies or new business models. He did not see much value in solving a problem “which only restores the equilibrium of yesterday,” but rather value is found in converting an “opportunity into results.” (more…)

Having read the recent article on new business for transformed telcos by my colleague Fergus O’Reilly, chief  solution expert, Consume to Cash, SAP, I was interested in hearing more. So I sat down with him to learn more about consume to cash solutions and why telcos can be exemplary of business transformation across many different industries. I also learned why product-based businesses are increasingly moving to become service businesses, and the importance of direct customer relationships, flexible pricing models and running multi-sided markets. (more…)