Global Enabled Supply and Demand Chain Series: Sourcing

In addition, Metcalfe advises users to watch for sourcing applications that have improved integration with PLM applications. This is so important to the entire mix of an organization's supply and demand chain requirements. The only provider doing a real good job of this is MatrixOne.

The Yankee Group's Derome also suggests that users can expect more capabilities from the spend management area in the sourcing arsenal. As standards mature (UCCNET, CIDX, RosettaNet), take advantage of those data standards to move data to maximize your demand chain. Supplier score-carding and supplier performance management have some interesting technology developments going on, too.

Mitchell speaks to the market in general. Look for even more consolidation. There are still too many technology suppliers in this area. Consolidation is good for a young market; it builds good choices.

And don't forget to watch for business intelligence analytics to be a long-term trend to watch, Mitchell adds. You have lots of good choices in the tool set.

For those companies that want to close their performance gaps in sourcing and supply management, just throwing any type of software application at their needs is clearly not the solution. Instead, more pragmatic, services-intensive, value-focused, benchmarked, best-practices-guided, and industry-specific implementation of technology conducted in lock-step with process and organizational change will lead to a slower, albeit lasting, growth in the procurement and sourcing market during 2002 to 2007, predicts AMR Research. So, yes, it's time to buy the right system to support your organization's strategic sourcing needs. But the time-honored adage still stands: buy smart.

To learn more about the sourcing space of Supply & Demand Chain Executive's Global Enabled Supply and Demand Chain Map, check our version 6.0 of the map on SDCExec.com.