Mainstream collaborative commerce still some way off

Widespread web technologies-based collaboration between manufacturing companies and their partners, suppliers and customers is still some way off, despite the clear operational and competitive business benefits when it is done properly – and today’s economic imperatives. Almost 40% of senior executives in the UK believe corporate culture and politics are still preventing sharing of business-critical information and other business collaboration, despite the existence of better technology to support it. This is key among findings of enterprise software vendor IFS’ survey of over 1,000 IT and finance directors across companies with more than 1,000 employees. It indicates ongoing concerns around trust and openness from top to bottom, which should be troubling every boardroom throughout the land. What it emphasises is the reality that any technology only becomes a workable solution when organisations move to best new practices that reflect new systems’ and media capabilities and intent across departments and between organisations. But the problems are not cultural alone. Although 97% of executives believe that systems within their organisation are operating more effectively than those of five years ago, only 45% say it is technically now easy for them to share information online with partners and customers. Indeed, 81% say they still can’t easily access key information from inside their own organisations. Further, almost 30% of finance directors believe existing IT to be inflexible for their business needs. Other perceived barriers include particularly security, with 55% of board directors apparently still believing this to be a concern for external communications. Nevertheless, 87% of senior board members do now see business collaboration as vital for their future growth (financial directors 92% and IT directors 79%). And most believe that IT has improved their ability to do achieve it – both internally and externally. The gap is in execution; putting it bluntly, in willingness, even determination, to bite the bullet and force and encourage the new ways of working through organisations and their dependents on the supply and demand sides. Doing so does involve persuasion and assistance in terms of suppliers certainly – making it the win/win that adversarial business practice eschews – but also, while customers may be incentivised. But on the IT side, it means resolving, rather than ducking, issues like data accuracy, application suitability and integration where relevant, and then role-based training and education to cement new practices in. Perversely, businesses may well find themselves pushed down this route from the top as executives deal with the post-Andersen, post-Worldcom requirements for corporate electronic openness. Funny how events like these can change minds in the most unexpected fashion.