GXS Launches 'Insights' Portal to Advance Supply Chain Management Thought Leadership
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First Panel Featuring John Fontanella of AMR Research Discusses Evolution of Software-as-a-Service
GAITHERSBURG, Md., Oct. 23 -- GXS, a leading provider of business-to-business (B2B) e-commerce solutions, today announced the launch of Insights, a new on-line customer executive summit portal focused on advancing thought leadership and sharing best practices in supply chain management and B2B. The first Insights installment, now on www.gxs.com, features four expert panellists discussing software-as-a-service (SaaS) trends and how SaaS can be incorporated to improve a company's supply chain management operations. The featured panellists: John Fontanella, vice president of research at AMR Research; John Radko, GXS' chief technology strategist; and Rory O'Neill, director of GXS' global alliances, were led in their discussion by Steve Keifer, vice president of industry and product marketing. The goal of the panel was to discuss the pros and cons of SaaS, and to provide companies with thought leadership surrounding the importance of SaaS in the supply chain. With Insights, GXS is providing customers and prospective customers with important insight into many critical business issues and technologies.
GXS' on-demand, integration services platform, GXS Trading Grid®, is one of the most robust, globally-available SaaS platforms on the market today. The SaaS applications on GXS Trading Grid enable companies to conduct B2B e- commerce, improve supply chain visibility, gain insight into inventory and shipment status and enable the exchange of goods. By deploying the SaaS model for supply chain management (SCM) applications, large companies can make cutting-edge supply chain applications available to any, or all, of their trading partners anywhere in the world. The multi-tenant applications on GXS Trading Grid, such as logistics visibility, enable data to be shared and manipulated by players throughout a supply chain-buyers and suppliers alike -- ensuring greater accuracy of and access to supply chain data.
"The biggest difference between the SaaS model and the traditional software model is people. In the software model, the customer gets a packaged application, pays the invoice and goes on their merry way, hoping all the while that it will meet their company's needs," said John Radko, chief technology strategist at GXS. "In the SaaS model, the majority of the vendor's revenue is still forthcoming, so the vendor has a vested interest in ensuring that the application meets the customer's needs on an on-going basis and provides the human resources to achieve this. In addition, the SaaS model typically offers distinct integration capabilities that often are not included in a packaged software application, further elevating the value of the service, perhaps even to the customer's other lines of business."
According to AMR Research, SCM applications based on the SaaS model grew at a rate of 19 percent from 2005 to 2006 and were expected to grow at a rate of 16 percent between 2006 and 2007. (1) In a recent report, Mark Hillman of AMR said, "Already, companies that AMR Research groups under the title of collaborative commerce have transformed how software is deployed, used and bought in the supply chain by leveraging the SaaS model. Managed services are introduced to complement the software services they provide in areas like sourcing and procurement, transportation management, global trade management and supply chain planning. SaaS and managed services are trends that software vendors, no matter how enamored they are with their current business models, will ignore at their own peril in the coming years." (2)
An additional benefit of the SaaS model is the ease of upgrades. In the SaaS model, vendors can release upgrades and enhancements to their services more frequently than in the traditional software model. Those upgrades are made available automatically and do not typically require additional investment from the customer. For example, GXS is able to provide customers of its supply chain visibility applications with seamless updates and upgrades to their services multiple times a year ensuring that the services continue to evolve and improve to match customer requirements.
GXS is planning regularly updated installments of Insights in the future featuring experts addressing a variety of topics related to the supply chain available in a wide range of media and formats, including RSS, YouTube, Podcasts, and blogs. More detail and features can be found on www.gxs.com.
GXS Trading Grid is a global B2B e-commerce and integration services platform that supports the creation and adoption of on-demand supply chain management solutions for companies of any size. As the world's largest electronic business community, GXS Trading Grid is used by more than 35,000 customers to exchange goods and services, gain visibility into global logistics operations and to synchronize product data. Trading Grid helps customers automate global trading communities by shielding complexity from rapidly changing standards, eliminating manual and duplicative processes and enabling the highest levels of B2B integration and collaboration.
About GXS
GXS is a leading global provider of B2B e-commerce solutions that simplify and enhance business process integration, synchronization and collaboration among trading partners. Organizations worldwide, including 75 percent of the Fortune 500, leverage the GXS Trading Grid® to extend supply networks, optimize product launches, automate warehouse receiving, manage electronic payments and gain supply chain visibility. With an unmatched global presence, proven trading partner management and B2B outsourcing services, GXS' on-demand solutions maximize the benefits of integration for businesses.
Based in Gaithersburg, Md., GXS' extensive global network serves customers throughout the Americas, Europe and Asia-Pacific regions. GXS can be found on the Web at www.gxs.com.
(1) AMR Research, "The Supply Chain Management Market Sizing Report,
2006-2011" by John Fontanella, 2007.
(2) AMR Research, "Market Outlook: SCM Trends For 2007 and Beyond" by Mark
Hillman, July 5, 2007.
Source: GXS
CONTACT: Allison Tobin of GXS, Global Public Relations, +1-301-340-4988, allison.tobin@gxs.com
Web site: www.gxs.com/
