Supply Chain Data: Real-Time Speed Is Seductive, Dangerous

Give me my data, and Give it to me fast!

[ CIO.com asks: Supply Chains Are Bigger Today, But Are They Better | Wal-Mart Orders Suppliers to Go Green and Some See Red ]

That "need for speed" in today's supply chains is one of the underlying messages of a recent report from Aberdeen Group: "Supply Chain Intelligence: Adopt Role-Based Operational Business Intelligence and Improve Visibility." (Free with registration.)

Given that Wall Street Effect, users of supply chain systems today expect this up-to-the-second data. Customers now look for it as well. The Aberdeen report notes that 21st-century supply chains must collaborate with and respond to customers, suppliers and partners at real-time speeds. Supply chain risk needs to be assessed as it happens.

In several instances, the report's authors, analysts Nari Viswanathan and Viktoriya Sadlovska, point to a coming shift in historic supply-chain strategy: from the traditional "supply chain organization" to a "customer-focused customer value chain organization" that utilizes "advanced BI technologies that are pervasive and role-based."