At InterSystems, fostering a robust partner ecosystem is crucial to driving innovation and addressing industry challenges. As part of this commitment, we recently hosted an exclusive dinner with key supply chain industry vendors to discuss the evolving needs of their end users and the importance of strategic partnerships.
During a candid discussion, industry leaders explored strategic topics from meeting customer demands to the critical role of continuous innovation. Here are the key takeaways.
Collaboration for Innovation
To remain competitive, supply chain leaders are increasingly adopting advanced technologies such as advanced analytics, AI, and intelligent process automation. Throughout the discussion, these tools emerged as key enablers enhancing efficiency and driving smarter business models. Collaboration with strategic partners is vital for addressing the dynamic challenges faced by end users.
One attendee put it simply, “Five years later, you’re finished if you don’t have innovation as part of your everyday business processes”. Attendees agreed that close collaboration, either with other companies or with vendors, is essential for creating innovative solutions that address ever-changing end-user challenges. By pooling expertise on both a technical and industry-level, more robust and practical solutions can be developed that tackle specific customer problems or requirements.
For instance, participants noted that today’s market is heavily influenced by the tech savvy younger generations who expect user-friendly, app-like experiences from their supply chain solutions, providing prescriptive insights at the touch of a button. This demographic shift pushes for innovative new offerings to align with these expectations, and ultimately ensure a competitive edge. By collaborating with customers to understand their specific needs and deliver tailored solutions, vendors can build lasting, value-driven relationships. Through these partnerships, vendors can not only address current challenges more effectively but also stay ahead of future demands by co-developing scalable and adaptable solutions.
Preparing for Future Challenges
Looking ahead, vendors are aware the future is unpredictable and preparation is key. Investing in scalable, resilient, and flexible technologies is crucial for adapting to both current market trends and future uncertainties. AI, business process automation, and intelligent processes were highlighted as crucial areas for investment, enabling businesses to remain agile and responsive as they work to optimise their supply chain solutions.
By integrating intelligent processes, vendors can streamline workflows, reduce manual interventions, and enhance overall efficiency. As one participant noted, vendors must focus on unifying the right systems and processes to achieve specific business outcomes. For their end customers, the ability to harmonise and normalise data across disparate systems is crucial for improving decision-making and achieving operational excellence. A significant issue raised during the discussion was data management - particularly the challenge of capturing and utilising real-time data effectively. Data must flow consistently and accurately across disparate systems, yet many vendors are still dealing with legacy systems and data silos.
Moreover, leveraging AI requires accurate, clean data to unlock its full potential. One attendee summarised this challenge by asking, “If [a data lake] is only updated and only accurate once a day, what do we do for the other 23 hours?”. Without a consistent "single source of truth", businesses risk making decisions based on outdated or incomplete information, putting them at a competitive disadvantage.
InterSystems’ smart data fabric architecture was highlighted as a powerful tool for addressing these challenges. This architecture harmonises and normalises data from multiple sources in real time, overcoming data silos and ensuring interoperability between disparate systems. By providing actionable insights quickly, organisations can maintain a competitive edge and improve overall operational efficiency.
Partnering for Success
As the evening concluded, there was a consensus on the importance of fostering collaboration crucial for catalysing innovation - both between vendors and their partners, and with their end users. As the supply chain industry becomes more complex, partnerships and strategic collaborations will be vital for developing solutions that are scalable, resilient, and innovative. By pooling expertise and resources, companies can develop tailored solutions that meet specific customer needs and maintain a competitive edge in the market.
Learn how you can become part of the InterSystems Supply Chain Partner ecosystem.
