AMR urges suppliers to face up to the challenge of content management

In its latest report on content management, industry analyst AMR Research advises that suppliers now need to invest in moving their product content online, if they haven’t already, even though the initial costs may be high. The report, ‘Sell-Side Product Content: The key to supplier enablement’, explains that businesses are under increasing pressure from OEMs and buyers to create, manage and maintain their products in various electronic formats suitable for web trading exchanges. And although investment may put off many suppliers, the long-term benefits are worth it. “It’s more than just getting suppliers to compile and submit their product information,” says Beth Barling, senior analyst for AMR. “Suppliers need a comprehensive system that manages product content as efficiently as they manage products. In the future, market and technology trends will only intensify content requirement.” AMR recommends that suppliers focus on having one authoritative system for all the content and data, rather than keeping separate records. And it also states that companies should, “devise a PCM [product content management] strategy that allows them to manage and monitor product content with a single view,” as well as choosing a system that, “allows the integration of product content with functions and systems outside of the e-commerce catalogue, including sales support, customer service and supply chain planning.” There are a number of vendors in this field who can help, including the likes of CatalogA, SAQQARA, Reqio and Documentum, depending on the complexity of your product catalogue.