IDC Report: Driving Strategic Value with IBM Sterling Supply ChainBusiness Network

Supply chains are under enormous pressure, both to be more efficient and effective, and to be able to support new and emerging business models. In a recent IDC supply chain survey, 60% of companies expected their business to be disrupted within the next three years by a competitor with superior supply chain capabilities. This is partly about commercializing the potential of new digital technologies like artificial intelligence (AI), but it is also about understanding core competency and harnessing the power of ecosystems.

The long-term movement of the supply chain from centrally owned and controlled to one that is highly outsourced and connected to ecosystems has created both opportunity and challenge. The opportunity has been to outsource activities that are not a core competency or are less expensive to external parties. The accompanying challenge of an outsourced supply chain is that the ability to communicate in real-time, and have acceptable levels of visibility both upstream and downstream, has become increasingly problematic. Thus, the emergence of the ecosystem-enabling multienterprise supply chain commerce network.