Customers want smooth fast purchase transactions. They want to connect to
vendors' sell-side systems transparently - accessing online catalogs and
issuing purchase orders without leaving their native procurement
environments. Companies that offer this capability differentiate themselves
from competitors.
Integrating suppliers into the supply chain is nothing new. Many global
enterprises have increased operating efficiency by requiring key players to
adopt their integration technologies. Batch-oriented EDI messaging has
typically been used to link organizations and, despite some limitations, has
been adequate to the task.
Customer integration is altogether different. First, customers expect sellers
to conform to their integration methodologies. Second, e-procurement
ap... (more)