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: 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: 2009 was filled with mergers and acquisitions led by mega mergers. During this time, the definition of "pharmaceutical company" evolved, as the big players began morphing into global health care providers. As the evolution continues, processes for integrating multinational supply chains, new product lines, and rationalizing LSP contracts will challenge even the most capable and visionary supply chain executives.

Analyst Insight: Economic volatility has been the cause for the majority of supply chain disruptions in 2008-2009, forcing companies to put an increased emphasis on supply chain management. In today's multi-enterprise demand-supply networks, process collaboration, closed-loop integration between planning and execution, and enhanced focus on intelligence and performance management become key to success.

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: 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: With numerous events and shipments to monitor, where should a company begin and in what areas are today's leaders focused? A recent study of over 209 companies shows that top performers are focusing on inbound supply chain events and are reaping big benefits.

Analyst Insight: The global trade management software market is in constant flux, but the risk mitigation benefits provided by the vendors are unmistakable. Vendors offer solutions across logistics, compliance, and finance, and spending on GTM software remains one of the few bright spots with 53 percent of respondents from our recent survey stating they are going to increase spending on GTM.