Analyst Insight: In Aberdeen's Supply Chain Executive's Agenda 2009 study, the following top market pressures were reported by the process industry respondents: economic and financial volatility, rising supply chain management costs, escalating customer service demands, and rising business complexity of managing an increasingly global business network. Process industry firms have a number of differences in the way they manage their manufacturing and supply chains and are now increasing their focus on supply chain performance.

Analyst Insight: Analyzing the right metrics is obviously essential for accomplishing the difficult task of maintaining and improving quality at every single step of the supply chain. Still, basic principles must first be applied in order to achieve better performance and accurately measure supply chain behavior.

Analyst Insight: The regulatory environment for food and beverage manufacturers is changing. President Obama has reinvigorated the FDA's Food Safety Working Group and change is on the way. It is more important than ever for food and beverage manufacturers to get ahead of the curve and ensure food safety and traceability across their entire supply chains, from the field to the fork.

Analyst Insight: As of 2010, the traditional relationship between supply chain and business is in full revolution, and global supply chain management has become more important than ever. The roles of supply chain and manufacturing within organizations continue to evolve, making it clear that manufacturing should be reporting to supply chain, instead of the other way around.

Analyst Insight: The automotive industry has one of the most complex supply chains, upstream (hundreds of part and accessory suppliers) and downstream (thousands of car dealers, repair shops, etc). Most, if not all, automotive manufacturers use different software systems in different locations, but even at the same location, for different purposes. Often, these systems are old or incompatible, which makes integration difficult.

Analyst Insight: SaaS and new enterprise software offerings have created a new dynamic for enterprise software selection as opposed to traditional software selection. The cloud evaluation process for software and services must consist of different and a more focused approach, including such factors as importance of methodology, model differentiation, industry-specific expertise and total cost of ownership.