Analyst Insight: The dirty underside of supply chain is confronting the many risks inherent in 24x7-operations entrusted to "partners" in far-flung regions who are conducting fraudulent activities as well as dealing with unpredictable events. The big market here is risk transfer-insurance and others services to mitigate the impact of events. In addition, step by step, we are beginning to see approaches-metric and risk assessments methods, auditing and monitoring services, and technology - to support risk avoidance and assure recovery.

Analyst Insight: Global competition, ongoing business transformation, and the increased lead-times / complexity of global supply chains are creating a situation where pipeline inventory and landed costs have increased dramatically. But before a company can reduce pipeline inventory or landed cost, it needs visibility into them. Hence, improving supply chain visibility is a key strategic imperative that has been, and is, growing in importance in managing the multi-enterprise supply chains.

Analyst Insight: Many businesses have been paying more attention to the concept of software as a service (SaaS) and how it can be incorporated into their IT portfolios. The most commonly stated benefits -rapid deployment, lower cost, and scalability - must be balanced by other key decision criterion, such as fit, ROI, and risk.

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.