Knowledge Management Weblog
Thursday, February 22, 2001
STUFF: INFOTECH - PRODUCTS - STORY : New Zealand's leading news and information websiteJ D Edwards goes collaborative
19 FEBRUARY 2001
By HEATHER WRIGHT
C-commerce and supply chains will be the focus for United States software company J D Edwards this year, says New Zealand general manager David Batkin.
C-commerce, or collaborative commerce, is the latest American buzzword that refers to the collaboration between partners, suppliers and customers.
J D Edwards New Zealand has established an in-house supply chain team in preparation for an explosion of interest in that area.
The team has two staff though Mr Batkin says it is expected to employ at least six by the end of the year. J D Edwards employs 55 staff in New Zealand, with offices in Auckland and Wellington.
The moves spring from J D Edwards' purchase in 1999 of Numetrix, a maker of Internet-enabled supply chain planning software. The Numetrix software has been integrated into J D Edwards' software and Mr Batkin says existing customers – including New Zealand Dairy Group, Fletcher Challenge and Carter Holt Harvey – are using the supply chain planning product.
"Collaborative commerce has been far easier to talk to businesses about than e-business."
"Chief executives are going to be creating, modifying and changing partnerships on a daily basis, so it's second nature for them to have trading relationships. And when you talk about having collaborative trading relationships between the systems, that's something they now expect, whereas when you're talking e-business quite often the person putting forward the e-business idea didn't make the connection between what's happening in business and what's happening in technology."
He says the amount of value businesses can derive from collaborative commerce makes it a popular option.
Analysis from United States e-business company Benchmarking Partners, now Surgency, shows that about 10 per cent of the value that can be derived from a software application such as enterprise resource planning (ERP), comes with the installation of the software.
"If you stop at ERP you're only going to get 10 per cent of the true value. The next 30 per cent is by integrating the ERP to your legacy systems and having a fully integrated process."
"That gets you up to 40 per cent. The other 60 per cent comes through collaboration: hooking up your system to that of your suppliers and so on.
"So until a company takes on collaborative commerce they're only ever going to achieve 40 per cent of value."
Collaborative commerce also simplifies things, he says.
"For years companies have been doing point-to-point integration, so this is rationalising a lot of what has historically been done.
"It's simpler than managing a network with point-to-point relationships and EDI relationships, because it brings all of those to a central broker," he says.
Last year J D Edwards scooped up 12 new deals including ones with Nelson Marlborough Health, Open Polytechnic, Circo Project Engineering, Foodstuffs and the New Zealand Fire Service.
J D Edwards recorded 56 per cent growth in New Zealand software licences for fiscal 2000, over fiscal 1999. Worldwide the company recorded revenue of US$1 billion (NZ$2.2 billion) for the year ending October 31, 2000. Net income was $4.9 million.
posted by Dan Randow 10:26 AM permanent link
Knowledge Pays - GET REAL WITH JOHN SVIOKLA - CIO Magazine Feb. 15, 2001
" FACE IT. Most knowledge management efforts are doomed to failure. They are internally focused, and they have fluffy measures of success. Often, the KM team counts inputs ("We have 20 people working on KM") and activity ("We have 1,500 best practices codified"). You end up keeping very smart people busy producing lots of paperwork, and increasing overhead costs, for fuzzy benefits. "
"To succeed, CIOs must redefine knowledge management in terms that focus on what would make it most valuable to a business. That means having a deep knowledge of your company's supply chain, from what your customers want to when they want it and which suppliers can quickly deliver high-quality parts to meet those wants. You can use this knowledge to focus on the critical goal of improving the return on capital for your company, your customers, suppliers and business partners. And by mastering KM—one of the squishiest IT concepts out there—you can help your company seize an enormous digital age opportunity."
posted by Walter Logeman 10:14 AM permanent link
Marc Andreessen: Act II What's still true -- and what was never true -- about the Internet.
| Email remains the Internet's killer app. |
"I keep a list of the 10 most serious threats to the company. The lawyers hate this. It's actually called "Ten reasons we're going to go out of business." It definitely focuses the mind as much as the prospect of imminent hanging. So we ask ourselves, If we end up failing, what will be the reason? And we go through the list. You're starting to build in what seems like paranoia, but it's really just clear-eyed objectivity. I always enjoyed it. In fact, working on the risk-factor section is my favorite part of drafting prospectuses. It lets you look at your company and say, Okay, what might go wrong? You have an obligation to be as complete as you can, so it liberates your mind. "
posted by Walter Logeman 2:59 AM permanent link
State of the KM Art - Lessons Learned From Early Adoption of KM
| The majority of knowledge resources lie in the "unformatted" tacit knowledge of employees, partners and stakeholders. |
"Summary: This paper is based on a series of information gatherings about the pioneering efforts in Knowledge management. The intent is to draw from the experimentation an understanding of the conditions of success. Some of the lessons learned are identified and the article concludes that there is a broad chasm between what is being proposed and what is being espoused in the domain."
posted by Walter Logeman 1:40 AM permanent link
Knowledge Management Resource Center: What's New
"What's New
New resources are being added all the time. Check here to find the latest entries. We also alert you to selected resources that have been added within the KM resource sites that we monitor."
Comprehensive.
posted by Walter Logeman 1:30 AM permanent link
Dots Dashed Bob Lessin,
Chairman and CEO,
Wit SoundView Group Inc.,
New York, New York.
"My advice to B2C companies trying to make a go of it alone? Don't do it. If you don't already exist on the Web, don't bother now. You'll be wasting your time. That is, unless you have an idea that touches the consumer in a unique way. But I've got news for you: There aren't many unique ideas out there.
Why is it so impossible to enter the Internet space as a stand-alone B2C? Primarily, because brands rule. And the cost of building a brand has grown from $10 million to several billion. The events of last year have made me understand, like never before, the power and legitimacy of brands. When the dust settles, we'll have only a few brands left: Amazon, eBay, Yahoo!, and perhaps a few others.
Many B2Cs made the mistake of presuming there would always be an abundance of capital. They didn't focus on building their brands. Today, unless those companies have found a physical partner or another way to extend their brand, they're facing a tough road.
When the dust settles, we'll have only a few brands left: Amazon, eBay, Yahoo!, and perhaps a few others. |
I don't think most people anticipated that in one day, one hour, one minute, everything would change. But in the market, there's rarely a gradual landing. When CEOs ask, "What's the secret to venture capital?" I say, "Not running out of money."
Don't get cute with capital. Presume that you'll never raise another dime, and run your business accordingly."
posted by Walter Logeman 12:00 AM permanent link
Tuesday, February 20, 2001
J D Edwards goes collaborative"Collaborative commerce has been far easier to talk to businesses about than e-business."
posted by Walter Logeman 11:43 PM permanent link
" In the broader knowledge management market, organisations are also investing in tools to support employee decision-making, and provide swift access to information, IDC says."
"Sales of KM software are expected to climb to US$5.4 billion (NZ$11 billion) by 2004, compared to US$1.4 billion (NZ$3 billion) in 1999."
posted by Walter Logeman 11:40 PM permanent link
Monday, February 19, 2001
Strategy as if Knowledge Mattered"Managing knowledge is hot! Before we get carried away, why not stop to link knowledge and strategy?"
by Brook Manville and Nathaniel Foote
illustrations by Regan Dunnick
from FC issue 2, page 66
"In an industrial loading area in the cold, gray drizzle, 40 miles south of London, workers in blue overalls loaded and unloaded 200-gallon steel drums of knowledge. The barrels contained a mix of specialty ingredients, designer essences a manufacturer would soon add to laundry detergent to produce a distinctive "fragrance of spring." If the strategy worked, 10 million consumers would desert "air of lemon" for "fragrance of spring" when they reached for their next box of laundry detergent."
Old but relevant article.
posted by Walter Logeman 12:56 AM permanent link
