Over the years, I have been asked many times how can I make my clients successful? My answer has always been the same – always try to choose successful clients.
The inevitable follow-up question is, what is an example of a successful client?
For that answer, let’s go back to a 2007 post in this blog titled “Yes, Virginia! There is more to e-procurement than software! (Part 1).” Here is an excerpt you will find enlightening:
The recognition on the part of Virginia that government goes beyond a mere org chart but is actually comprised of Higher Education, K-12, Corrections, Public Safety, Transportation, Health, Social Services, and Construction, etc., meant that they really understood the “special needs, special rules and special challenges” associated with the procurement practice of each entity both individually and collectively.
As a result, they avoided the trap of eVA becoming a software project, as Bob put it, and were thereby able to shift the emphasis from an exercise in cost justification to one of process understanding and refinement. And while the Ariba application has done the job it was required to do, eVA’s effectiveness has little to do with the technology and more to do with the methodology the Virginia Brain Trust employed. It is when technology (software) is seen as the primary vehicle to drive results that it becomes ineffectual and mostly irrelevant. The 75 to 85% e-procurement initiative failure rate gives testimony to this fact.
In the above two paragraphs, what “key points” stand out to you the most. If you recognize them here, you will be able to recognize them in the clients with whom you will want to work.
The Deloitte Expose
What is worth noting is that the inability to identify the clients with whom you will want to work was still a challenge for many solution providers in December 2019. Here is an excerpt from that post titled “Deloitte CPO Survey: Digital transformation of procurement a bust?”
“Interestingly though, a large percentage of companies that have fully implemented these modern technologies are not actually satisfied with the results.” – Deloitte 2019 Global CPO Survey
Revisiting The Cisco Imperative
In November 2023, I shared another long-ago post titled “Is Cisco Really Driving 21st Century Supply Chain Innovation? (Revisiting the 2007 Cisco Post in 2023)” to see if my Virginia eVA review stood the test of time. The only difference is that I looked at a private industry organization.
Here is that 2007 excerpt:
“Once again, I want to emphasize the fact that whatever gains or improvements Cisco has made over the past few years, they almost certainly began with an evolution in attitude that can best be reflected by Jim Miller’s statement regarding the importance of getting people “out of functional silos and thinking holistically.”
A “holistic” approach translates into an effective strategy to engage and understand the objectives of key stakeholders across the entire enterprise and beyond – (for those of you who have not yet attended my seminars, what I am talking about relates to the building of an effective Results Objective Table).
When this mindset is extended to include other key areas of your supply practice, such as domestic and international cluster development, your organization will be on the road to laying a solid foundation to effectively survive and thrive in an increasingly globalized market.”
What similarities do you recognize between The Commonwealth of Virginia and Cisco?
The o9 Solutions’ Barilla Mystery
Last week I wrote a post titled “Why did Barilla Group Choose o9 Solutions to support them with the digital transformation of their supply chains?”
For me, the following excerpt encapsulates the mystery regarding why the Barilla Group chose to work with o9 Solutions:
“When I read the above paragraph highlighting why the Barilla Group selected o9 Solutions, except for “o9’s Digital Brain platform,” I have repeatedly heard, read, or seen variations of the following terms.
- integrate all supply chain planning processes
- a single-cloud native platform
- optimize its supply chain planning capabilities
- a future-proof planning platform
As creatively worded as the text was in the press release, would you, as a practitioner, use that as a basis for reaching out to o9 Solutions?”
Based on the above, I decided to do some research to learn more about the o9 Solutions offering. Here is what I found so far:
December 19th, 2023 Press Release: o9 Solutions Named a Leader in the IDC MarketScape: Worldwide Retail Merchandise Operations Management Solutions 2023 Vendor Assessment
December 28th, 2023 Digital Brain Website: If slow and siloed planning capabilities are preventing your company from detecting market changes, forecasting demand accurately, evaluating demand/supply scenarios, and driving integrated decisions, then o9 is the platform you need.
Chakri Gottemukkala, Co-founder and CEO, o9 Solutions: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chakrigottemukkala/
Outside of the missing years between January 2005 and August 2009, when he left i2 Technologies, where he was a Director, and started o9 Solutions, it is safe to say that Chakri has been around long enough to understand the points I am making. Regarding the missing years, he was probably working in stealth mode.
So, here is the question: what are the common points of connection between Virginia’s eVA, Cisco’s 21st Century Supply Chain, and o9 Solutions’ Digital Brain? It is within that answer that a practitioner-client will find the key attribute(s) for success.
There is, of course, one very important caveat – your success as a practitioner is not based on what they say or do; it is based entirely on what you are prepared to do. In short, are you chasing solutions or solving problems? Are you solution eager or problem-solving-ready? Your success hangs in the balance.
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Procurement Insights
Does technology by itself remove functional silos? Unraveling the o9 Solutions’ Barilla Press Release mystery
Posted on December 29, 2023
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Over the years, I have been asked many times how can I make my clients successful? My answer has always been the same – always try to choose successful clients.
The inevitable follow-up question is, what is an example of a successful client?
For that answer, let’s go back to a 2007 post in this blog titled “Yes, Virginia! There is more to e-procurement than software! (Part 1).” Here is an excerpt you will find enlightening:
The recognition on the part of Virginia that government goes beyond a mere org chart but is actually comprised of Higher Education, K-12, Corrections, Public Safety, Transportation, Health, Social Services, and Construction, etc., meant that they really understood the “special needs, special rules and special challenges” associated with the procurement practice of each entity both individually and collectively.
As a result, they avoided the trap of eVA becoming a software project, as Bob put it, and were thereby able to shift the emphasis from an exercise in cost justification to one of process understanding and refinement. And while the Ariba application has done the job it was required to do, eVA’s effectiveness has little to do with the technology and more to do with the methodology the Virginia Brain Trust employed. It is when technology (software) is seen as the primary vehicle to drive results that it becomes ineffectual and mostly irrelevant. The 75 to 85% e-procurement initiative failure rate gives testimony to this fact.
In the above two paragraphs, what “key points” stand out to you the most. If you recognize them here, you will be able to recognize them in the clients with whom you will want to work.
The Deloitte Expose
What is worth noting is that the inability to identify the clients with whom you will want to work was still a challenge for many solution providers in December 2019. Here is an excerpt from that post titled “Deloitte CPO Survey: Digital transformation of procurement a bust?”
“Interestingly though, a large percentage of companies that have fully implemented these modern technologies are not actually satisfied with the results.” – Deloitte 2019 Global CPO Survey
Revisiting The Cisco Imperative
In November 2023, I shared another long-ago post titled “Is Cisco Really Driving 21st Century Supply Chain Innovation? (Revisiting the 2007 Cisco Post in 2023)” to see if my Virginia eVA review stood the test of time. The only difference is that I looked at a private industry organization.
Here is that 2007 excerpt:
“Once again, I want to emphasize the fact that whatever gains or improvements Cisco has made over the past few years, they almost certainly began with an evolution in attitude that can best be reflected by Jim Miller’s statement regarding the importance of getting people “out of functional silos and thinking holistically.”
A “holistic” approach translates into an effective strategy to engage and understand the objectives of key stakeholders across the entire enterprise and beyond – (for those of you who have not yet attended my seminars, what I am talking about relates to the building of an effective Results Objective Table).
When this mindset is extended to include other key areas of your supply practice, such as domestic and international cluster development, your organization will be on the road to laying a solid foundation to effectively survive and thrive in an increasingly globalized market.”
What similarities do you recognize between The Commonwealth of Virginia and Cisco?
The o9 Solutions’ Barilla Mystery
Last week I wrote a post titled “Why did Barilla Group Choose o9 Solutions to support them with the digital transformation of their supply chains?”
For me, the following excerpt encapsulates the mystery regarding why the Barilla Group chose to work with o9 Solutions:
“When I read the above paragraph highlighting why the Barilla Group selected o9 Solutions, except for “o9’s Digital Brain platform,” I have repeatedly heard, read, or seen variations of the following terms.
As creatively worded as the text was in the press release, would you, as a practitioner, use that as a basis for reaching out to o9 Solutions?”
Based on the above, I decided to do some research to learn more about the o9 Solutions offering. Here is what I found so far:
December 19th, 2023 Press Release: o9 Solutions Named a Leader in the IDC MarketScape: Worldwide Retail Merchandise Operations Management Solutions 2023 Vendor Assessment
December 28th, 2023 Digital Brain Website: If slow and siloed planning capabilities are preventing your company from detecting market changes, forecasting demand accurately, evaluating demand/supply scenarios, and driving integrated decisions, then o9 is the platform you need.
Chakri Gottemukkala, Co-founder and CEO, o9 Solutions: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chakrigottemukkala/
Outside of the missing years between January 2005 and August 2009, when he left i2 Technologies, where he was a Director, and started o9 Solutions, it is safe to say that Chakri has been around long enough to understand the points I am making. Regarding the missing years, he was probably working in stealth mode.
So, here is the question: what are the common points of connection between Virginia’s eVA, Cisco’s 21st Century Supply Chain, and o9 Solutions’ Digital Brain? It is within that answer that a practitioner-client will find the key attribute(s) for success.
There is, of course, one very important caveat – your success as a practitioner is not based on what they say or do; it is based entirely on what you are prepared to do. In short, are you chasing solutions or solving problems? Are you solution eager or problem-solving-ready? Your success hangs in the balance.
30
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