Managed well, service-oriented architecture (SOA) offers a tremendous opportunity to make positive changes and lay a foundation that will allow IT to become responsive and cost-effective. But SOA is also a potential minefield: hype is raising expectations beyond reality in an environment that is already stressed. In fact, managed poorly, SOA can be an expensive and spectacular failure.
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Sales and operations planning (S&OP) provides the visibility and agility to improve product management and promotional planning, minimize unnecessary buildups of inventory, and predict revenue more effectively. S&OP works because it develops a well-coordinated operating plan in support of your customer demand, your business plan, and your strategy. So what is S&OP exactly, and how does it work?
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With business intelligence (BI), decision-makers can feel the organization’s pulse, evaluate the performance of key business functions, and take action based on their analysis. However, many organizations invest time, money, and resources in BI processes, only to waste their newfound capabilities. Why? And, more importantly, how do you ensure that your BI solution won’t be one of them?
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With today’s strategic focus on data, a significant challenge facing companies is the ability to use data to create a single customer view (SCV). An SCV means that a company has a accurate and complete view of their customers across all applications, databases, and customer touch points. The financial, operational, customer satisfaction, and regulatory effects of unreliable SCVs are overwhelming.
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Technology and process upgrades at forward-thinking companies confirm supply chain excellence as a more widely accepted element of overall business strategy. To remain successful, companies need organization-wide buy-in to supply chain excellence, with key trends in mind: demand planning as an imperative; globalization; increased competition and price pressures; outsourcing; shortened and more complex product life cycles; and collaboration between stakeholders.
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Historically, companies have invested in tactical and operational supply chain technology solutions. These solutions helped model and operate existing supply chains, without addressing overall supply chain design and strategy. Companies are increasingly turning to strategic solutions such as supply chain design and optimization (SCDO) to help satisfy customer demand while balancing limitations on supply and the need for operational efficiency.
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Implementing technology without the proper people and processes in place only means bad service is delivered faster. Indeed, the employee brain trust is critical to succeeding in today’s knowledge economy and customer-centric environment. Yet according to numerous industry analysts, a staggering 55 to 70 percent of customer relationship management (CRM) and contact center projects fail to meet their objectives. Why?
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The frequency of breakdowns in the IT client relationship is reaching epidemic proportions. Indeed, an IT client breakdown is comparable to the onset of an illness. If caught early enough, treatment is often relatively painless. However, if left to advance to the later stages, or full maturity, the treatment will not only be invasive, but also require significant recovery time.
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Customers are a company’s true source of value creation, and maintaining their trust is imperative. When companies understand this, privacy protection will become an important business tool, rather than just a regulatory requirement (as many companies think of it). Obtaining, using, and especially protecting customer data has never been more important to the strength and positioning of a company’s success.
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The new focus for business leaders is customer advocacy, soon to become the most important strategic initiative for cutting-edge, forward-thinking companies. A crucial department in the company is thus the customer contact center, as it plays a pinnacle role in branding, corporate image, and customer lifetime value. Adopting a customer-centric culture has a direct impact on corporate financial viability.
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