Cloud B2B Integration
Harness the power of the Cloud to improve performance with partners, customers, and suppliers
Global changes in business practices drive
new challenges for organizations.
Unprecedented disruption throughout the world has created unique issues for business leaders. It’s also presented incredible opportunities for those who are quick to innovate. But to do so, organizations need to be fully connected to their growing B2B partner ecosystem.
Many traditional EDI solutions simply cannot support the more complex B2B processes and collaborative supply chain relationships that are needed to succeed in today’s rapidly evolving business environment. That’s why the number of organizations leveraging the Cloud for B2B integration is expected to grow exponentially.
Industry leaders that have already migrated B2B integration to the Cloud are already reporting improvements in business partner management. They’re gaining a valuable competitive advantage – an advantage you’ll want to seize. Because if you try to maintain the status quo, you’re going to be left behind. Here’s why.
- The escalating number and diversity of trading partners and transactions add complexity.
- New customer expectations emphasize immediacy.
- The knowledge gap widens while evolving workforces stretch organizations to their limits.
- Ensuring compliance is not optional.
- Financial pressures are mounting in every industry, everywhere.
- Data security has become critical…and complex.
The typical organization manages around:
- 250+ suppliers, partners, and customers.
- 2 - 5 business processes
- 10 different data formats
- 11 B2B protocols
In addition, many organizations still process form-based transactions from smaller partners.
Ubiquitous texting and social media have created expectations of immediacy in business relationships. B2B partners are no longer willing to wait days to understand what’s happening with their transactions. Whether they’re checking on a payment, querying the status of an invoice, or investigating the location of a shipment, they demand answers now.
EDI expertise has always been scarce, but the situation is made more difficult by the current rate of retirement for experienced B2B Integration professionals. Employers are doing their best to capture accumulated knowledge, but with tighter budgets and fewer human resources, it’s a challenge for remaining staff to quickly acquire new skills. IT departments often work beyond capacity to maintain the status quo.
The rate of change is unprecedented. Throughout the world, local and regional governments are implementing new standards and requirements. Industry regulatory bodies are also introducing new guidelines that send ripples throughout a global supply chain. In many situations, if organizations fail to meet compliance, they suffer enormous fines.
Financial performance has always been paramount in corporate objectives. But today’s global economy has put extraordinary pressure on CFOs. They’re aggressively seeking ways to streamline processes, reduce costs, extract as much value as possible from their business partners, and in many cases, convert capital expenditures to operating costs.
No one wants their corporate name in the headlines because of a data breach. Sophisticated cybercriminals around the world are hacking into systems that organizations believed to be safe, and the repercussions can be devastating: fines, lost business, lost partnerships, and loss in brand equity.
Improve overall operational performance
with Cloud B2B Integration.
The enormity, strength, versatility, and ubiquity of Cloud computing has created tremendous opportunities for organizations to improve their financial results, IT department performance, business partner satisfaction, and line-of-business decision making. Organizations that have made the transition to Cloud B2B Integration report faster results than expected, and they’re reaping the benefits of competitive advantages and preparedness for the future.
Reduce the TCO of your B2B operations to
improve financial results.
Leaders in every business sector are under pressure to improve performance. Those who have migrated to the Cloud – and reduce reliance on their on-premises software and infrastructure – have improved results while decreasing capital expenditures and maintenance expenses.
Get started with a low entry cost.
Get started with a low entry cost.
Reduce operational costs.
Reduce operational costs.
Improve your balance sheet.
Improve your balance sheet.
Invest in innovation.
Invest in innovation.
Accelerate revenues.
Accelerate revenues.
Modernize B2B processes to improve the output and
value of your IT department.
If your organization is like most, you compete with many other departments to get the attention of your IT department. When you implement a system that reduces your dependence upon them, they reap as much benefit as you and your business partner network.
Improve reliability and performance.
Improve reliability and performance.
Build once, deploy often.
Build once, deploy often.
Scale up or down as business demands.
Scale up or down as business demands.
Increase agility to accelerate innovation.
Increase agility to accelerate innovation.
Improve relationships with your partners.
Your partners expect you to provide them with B2B Integration tools that facilitate collaboration and enhance visibility. And they don’t want to have to learn new processes. When you leverage the Cloud, your partners will look up to you.
Improve partner management.
Improve partner management.
Increase partner satisfaction.
Increase partner satisfaction.
Break down internal and external silos.
Lack of communication can result in missed opportunities or – equally alarming – uninformed decisions. Cloud B2B Integration resolves one of the biggest administrative challenges facing organizations: the dysfunction that arises when organizations and their partners create their own processes that others can’t access.
Provide actionable visibility.
Provide actionable visibility.
Facilitate greater collaboration.
Facilitate greater collaboration.
Respond quickly to market changes.
Respond quickly to market changes.
What’s holding you back?
In the past, many companies have expressed issues and concerns about moving to the Cloud. Today, there are few reasons why every company wouldn’t benefit from the operational and competitive advantages of leveraging B2B integration in the Cloud. Here we debunk some of the myths:
- Myth 1: Cloud B2B Integration is too expensive and too complicated.
- Myth 2. We have too many systems in place to move B2B to the Cloud.
- Myth 3: Cloud B2B Integration isn’t secure enough.
- Myth 4: We don’t have the technical expertise to move B2B integration to the Cloud.
The transition that was once a daunting rip and replacement overhaul is now a simpler gradual process that minimizes disruptions, leverages existing technologies, and helps minimize the cost of entry.
Regardless of the number of protocols, data standards, and disparate back-office systems used by you and your partners, modernizing through Cloud can be achieved with less difficulty than ever before. If you select the right Cloud partner, they have seen and solved your problem many times before to help you get there successfully.
Even if you and your partners exchange high-security data, you can be confident that the right Cloud B2B Integration solution offers utmost security. And, in many cases, it does so for far less cost than what you may be paying to maintain your own security protocols.
You don’t have to go it alone. You can leverage the expertise of a partner like Lightwell that has helped with thousands of deployments and migrations across a breadth of industries.
How to begin your transition to Cloud B2B Integration implementation
Talk to us. Our experienced team provides end-to-end, comprehensive B2B integration consulting services and support for the IBM Sterling B2B Integration solutions – on-premise and on-cloud.
We take a thoughtful, strategic approach to ensure that your transition and implementation go smoothly without unforeseen roadblocks. With the help of our B2B Integration consultants, you can future-proof your organization, improve partner relationships, and enhance your financial performance.
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