More blogs about supplier enablement.
Supplier Enablement: January 2007

Tuesday, January 09, 2007

Supplier Enablement gives way to eInvoicing

It has been suggested that blogs have been co-opted by business and are about as fresh as my trainers. Click here to read the article published in line56.com today.

Apparently blogs have lost their edge and are no longer fun and individualistic. I'm inclined to agree but that doesn't mean we should give up, does it?

It ain't easy to make supplier enablement fun but you can sometimes test the boundaries of humour.

I'm not deterred and have started another blog this time to discuss - ELECTRONIC INVOICING.

Scroll down for a wealth of information about supplier enablement.

Click here for more thoughts about electronic invoicing.

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Tuesday, January 02, 2007

Supplier Enablement- off the wall

To ease into 2007 here is an interesting couple of comments that I found recently.

Suppliers have to think: why would a customer adopt a system if it were going to create more work for them? So if you are a supplier approached by a customer to submit electronic invoices in replacement of paper invoices is your first thought; will this mean more or less work for my customer?

The businesses that have been most successful with the introduction of eInvoicing are those with captive suppliers. If you are a supplier to a business would you know if you were thought of as captive?

Finally two thoughts for 2007.

1. Surveys identify that banks are the preferred provider for electronic invoicing services. This makes sense as payment of invoices is cleared through the banks (whether that payment is by cheque or EFT) and of course they offer liquidity (cashflow) through invoice factoring and invoice discounting. What developments can we expect as banks look for revenue earning opportunities from the increasing use of electronic invoicing? Click here for how a bank helps a major retailer pay its suppliers.

2. It is well known that the problem facing the development of electronic invoicing is getting suppliers on board. This remains true but statistically we know the numbers increase year on year in the number of participants (buyers and suppliers) and number of electronic invoices. As we exit early adopter phase and move to a market that has a herd instinct then the opportunity size will grow rapidly and attract new players and new propositions.

Will this be the moment that a shift occurs from a technology led business (connectivity to enable transactions at a lower cost) to a services led business (an infrastructure for business) and will that be the trigger for banks and telcos and post and outsourcing providers to pile in?

If only we could see into the future.

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