Analyst Insight: With online retail sales projected to reach 17 percent of total company sales in 2010 and double-digit growth expected each year through 2012, retailers must take measures to offer next-generation retail. That would create a model that focuses on consumers and their experiences up to and through the purchase, or moment of truth. While most retailers have invested in some form of online capabilities, few (7 percent) have built the appropriate supply chain infrastructure to support a true, seamless, cross-channel experience for the customer.

Analyst Insight: Last year's economic pressures were among the most severe ever exerted on the modern supply chain. In response, many organizations are searching for ways to cut costs from their operations, either by reevaluating their IT infrastructure or by reengineering their business processes.

Analyst Insight: Today's supply chain managers operate in a distributed, networked environment, where multi-tier process visibility and effective partner collaboration are critical to success. In order to successfully balance the risks and rewards of this new environment, companies need to have much more transparent and responsive supply chains than in the past.

Analyst Insight: The performance benefits of mobile devices and voice technologies in order fulfillment are well-established, and their usage is a hallmark of Best-in-Class performance. RFID, however, is still maturing in this space. What it does provide, especially for manufacturing and transportation, is added traceability both inside and outside the warehouse.

Analyst Insight: If an organization fails to accurately manage its warehouse, it runs the risk of selling stock it doesn't have or retaining stock it should have sold. Both of these situations result in lost revenue and potentially unhappy customers.