Offering regional and national programs, CIO (and CSO) events bring together some of the most respected names and thought leaders in information technology and security. Presented by CIOs and other senior level executives, these invitation-only programs offer timely topics and strong networking. Learn More »
Public Council Teleconference: Application Rationalization — Hidden Costs and Smart Decisions
November 17 at 11:00 am US/Eastern (GMT-5)
Join Honorio Padrón, of The Hackett Group, who will share the drivers for companies to tackle application rationalization and the results of research that define the hidden cost of complexity. Additionally, we will discuss key decision milestones—to start or not, holding the course steady and fulfilling expectations.
Virtual Desktop Cost-Benefit Analysis — Michael Jacobs, Catlin Group
The analysis contained in this presentation measures the cost of everything from the machines and licenses to the infrastructure for virtual vs. traditional desktop environments.
Honor your best senior team members - Apply for the CIO Ones to Watch Award
Get well-earned public recognition for your top up-and-coming team members, your IT organization and your enterprise. Award winners will be announced, publicized and feted in May 2010, great timing to help attract new IT recruits to your company.
Learn more about the CIO Executive Council »January 15, 2003 — CIO —
Thomas Fisher is getting ready to peel back the covers on his company’s confidential information so that suppliers can better serve his needs. But before he takes that big step toward collaboration, he’s got to take a deep breath.
"There’s some leeriness on our side. Suppliers will need to have a lot of our proprietary information to fulfill our raw materials needs in real-time. That could be used against us if we’re not careful," says Fisher, vice president of global information technology for Applica, an $850 million maker of small appliances (including the Black & Decker line) headquartered in Miami Lakes, Fla.
In June, Fisher is planning to launch a Web-based front end to his manufacturing system, based on QAD’s MFG/PRO, that will give suppliers unprecedented access to Applica’s production data. Sharing the information will allow Applica to do real-time procurement of raw materials it uses, which Fisher expects to lower costs and increase production flexibility. But with that big win comes the risk that the
information will be misused?for example, specifics on Applica’s manufacturing processes or product design might somehow make their way to competitors. "We’re working on rules and procedures on how that information should and should not be used," Fisher says.
His sense of unease is pretty universal. Seventy-five percent of senior IT managers cited lack of trust as the number-one barrier to electronic collaboration in a recent survey conducted by NerveWire, a consultancy in Newton, Mass. "It is a tradition that we don’t trust our business partners," says Hau Lee, professor of operations, information and technology in the Graduate School of Business at Stanford University and an authority on supply chain management. "People don’t have a clear understanding of how sharing information would result in better performance. The lack of understanding induces fear and skepticism: ’I’m not sure, so it’s better not to do it.’"
Yet the potential benefits of collaboration are huge, be it integrating supply chains, product development or even business processes. Companies?and their supply chains?can cut out waste, speed time to market and be more responsive to customers’ needs by sharing information. During an otherwise grim year in 2001, for example, Applica cut $60 million out of its average inventory and trimmed the number of days product remained in inventory from 136 to 94, thanks to collaboration projects already in place, Fisher says.
Sooner or later, companies in all industries must face the fact that competition is increasingly between supply chains rather than between companies. Hardly any big-name manufacturers actually make anything themselves anymore?they leave it to contract manufacturers so that they can compete on the basis of superior information and efficiency. "All companies will have to do collaboration as a core competency, or they will not survive," asserts Denis Mathias, a partner in San Jose, Calif.-based IBM Consulting Services. Supply chain partners "need to have a different value proposition not based on exploitation but win-win."