Business-to-Partner Integration and Collaboration Managing Operational Complexity to Capitalize on New Revenue Opportunities

Transcription

1 John Konczal Industry Executive, Communications & Media, B2B & Commerce, IBM Software Group Russell Longo Account Executive, Business Solutions, IBM Software Group Business-to-Partner Integration and Collaboration Managing Operational Complexity to Capitalize on New Revenue Opportunities Tools of Change for Publishing, NYC, February 16

2 Session Agenda Investigate the growth in sales channel partnerships in publishing and how this growth is impacting publishers operational infrastructure for transacting sales through these partners: What is driving this growth The implications of this growth on the business Capabilities needed to manage this growth How digital sales models are complicating this issue Capabilities needed to manage new digital sales models 2

3 IBM is looking at how publishers can enable smarter commerce processes and practices to drive new revenues SMART IS SMART IS Using multiple mediums ms to deliver er your Embracing new customer buying content to your customers models for your customers SMART IS Efficient marketing across all mediums SMART IS Optimizing and expanding the use of traditional and digital sales channels 3

4 The Importance of Sales Channel Partnerships in Publishing Successful publishers will be those that have created ambidextrous and agile organizations that: Build revenue streams from multiple points: direct sales and in-direct sales (retailers and e-retailers) Manage business relationships with channel partners in a flexible manner 4

5 Sales Channel Partnerships are Expanding Exponentially Physical and Digital Local and Global Small and Large Manual or Automated Item Catalogs Purchase Orders Return Requests Digital Sales Data Settlements Invoices 5

6 Business Issues Channel Expansion Creates The Business-to-Partner Integration Challenge: How do I connect to these to these partners? How do manage their unique requirements? How do I ensure our date exchange is accurate and timely? How do I scale my operations profitably? 6

7 Our research shows that B2P Integration is a Big Concern The business needs more! Communications Media Service Providers What the business wants! Companies are not satisfied! 7

8 What the Business Wants! Increased Effectiveness of B2P Integration Efforts Enhanced Process Control and Optimization Real-Time Business Visibility Faster Reponse Times to New Requests Improved Cost Control 8

9 Solutions for the Publishing Industry The Comprehensive Business-to-Partner Integration Platform Driving new revenue streams in the digital economy requires publishers to have in place a B2P infrastructure that: Flexibly extends to new partners and channels Supports connection type, method, and protocol to integrate and communicate with partners Hides the complexity of legacy back-office systems and applications enables flow through processing Enables rapid, scalable, and effective expansion of channel partners worldwide 9

10 The Comprehensive Business-to-Partner Integration Platform Enables Integration with Any Partner and Any System How Information Is Handled Between the Two Organizations Must be Configured, Including Data Validation and Transformation. Partner/Channel Profiles Must be Implemented to Guide Integration Execution and Governance Adapters Should be Implemented to Process Partner Transactions To/From Back-office Systems. Global E-Retailer US Retailer Global Retailer Small Retailer US E-Retailer Channels Connections B2P Infrastructure 10

11 The Comprehensive Business-to-Partner Integration Platform Enables Process Orchestration for All B2P Transactions Process Modeling B2B Orchestration Process Templates B2B Orchestration State Management Workflow Solutions to orchestrate t business processes internally and externally Workflow Management, optimization and monitoring of business processes Process Modeling Modeling capability that dramatically reduces process development cycle time State Management Provide restart/resume control, and guaranteed delivery Process Template Templates that reflect the way a company does business, examining the steps, touch points, and processes that surround business activities iti 11

12 The Comprehensive Business-to-Partner Integration Platform Enables Close Visibility Into All Partner Transactions Visibility The Publisher Enterprise ERP3 Workflow ERP 1 ERP 2 Sales Catalog Aggregation Invoices Digital Sales Data Inventory Confirmation Finance Catalog Purchase Od Order Event Management Web Portal File Transfer Sales Channels Operations EDI/RNET/XML Regional Distributor Small Retailer Global Retailer 12 Performance Management US Retailer US E-Retailer Global E-Retailer Sophisticated Channels Unsophisticated Channels

13 Multi-National Trade Publisher Building Business Value Through h Business-to-Partner t Integration ti Challenge To maintain competitiveness and grow in a rapidly transforming marketplace, this company had to become more responsive to meeting new types of customer requirements. The emergence of new channels, including big-box stores and supermarkets, as well as the need to support varying terms and conditions and document standards, posed challenges to existing processes and technical infrastructure. This created a need to reengineer their B2P infrastructure. Complication In-house infrastructure was ill-suited to work with channels whose capabilities ranged from Excel spreadsheets to supporting highly complex EDIbased transactions. Needed to support a range of B2B standards, both crossindustry and specifically related to the publishing industry, such as ONIX, ANSI X12, and Tradacoms. Solution The company selected IBM Sterling Integrator and Collaboration Network: One platform to support all B2B standards including EDI/EDIFACT, ONIX, ANSI X12, and Tradacoms. End-to-end process visibility to monitor performance against partner SLAs. Key channels had many stringent rules and SLAs to be met or penalties would be applied. Line of business was also asking for greater automation capabilities. The B2B team also needed to prune and update its list of trading partners under management. High degree of process automation. For example, automated outbound file processing with unique workflow by partner and file type. Direct integration with SAP-based ERP layer. Larger volumes supported by smaller staff. 13

14 The Comprehensive Business-to-Partner Integration Platform IBM Sterling B2B Integrator Connectivity Translation Processing/Routing Visibility 14

15 So How Do You Use This Capability to Take Advantage of the Digital Economy? 15

16 Remember This Slide? Digital Sales Models Complicates This Even More 16

17 Why is the Digital Sales Model So Complicated? Publishers are partnering with online book sellers to provide consumers instant access to millions of books and other content via download to a variety of electronic devices Selling books in the digital age becomes an easier proposition for sellers as physical inventory management is not required Theoretically, any seller can sell digital books (with the proper digital infrastructure) This can drive potentially robust growth in digital book sales worldwide (in units sold) This digital sales paradigm and associated growth increases the complexity associated with publishers support of digital sales channels This includes moving, storing, analyzing, and processing digital sales transaction data as endcustomers make purchases. Publishers must be prepared to connect to a rapidly growing number of on-line sales partners and exchanging digital sales data in real time while providing the business control to ensure optimal financial performance of digital media offers This is a business-to-partner integration problem 17

18 What The CFO Wants To Know Connect Collect Process Settle Scalability Manageability Timeliness Accuracy Efficiency 18

19 The Digital Sales Data Exchange E-Retailer generates sales data file. OR Send XML file of sales data. Uploads flat file via publisher site. Digital Sales Data Exchange processes file: File is received File is translated File is interrogated Data is routed Reports generated Notification sent ERP receives translated file. Validated and parsed file. Visibility platform updated real-time. Units Sold by Category Units Sold by Title Units Sold by Revenue Type Etc. Connectivity Translation Processing/Routing Visibility 19

20 Key Capabilities in Deploying a Digital Sales Data Exchange With Associated Benefits 20 Capability Area of Impact Business Benefit Connectivity to e-retailers sites Digital Sales File Translation Digital Sales File Visibility Portal Offers multiple protocols/mechanisms for connectivity to Digital Sales partners Abstracts the complexity to the partner through self-service and provides a consistent partner experience Provides any-to-any transformation for integration between partners and publisher ERPs, including data prevalidation Rapid on boarding of partners through the reuse of templates, maps, and processes reduces time to implementation Offers aggregated views of Digital Sales files by partner, time period and product Real time tracking of transactions by business and IT including forecast reporting Lower Ops Costs IT (less time to onboard and less time maintaining communications with non-van trading partners) Faster Revenue Realization - Shorter time to revenue with more agile on-boarding process (get the sales flowing sooner) Lower Ops Costs IT (automated handling of error conditions due to pre-validation) Lower Ops Costs - Finance (remove manual labor currently associated with exception handling) Lower Ops Costs IT (reduce involvement in tracking efforts reduction in Q/I tickets) Lower Ops Costs Finance (automated reporting reduces labor waste from file tracking) Digital Sales File Automated processing of exceptions Lower TCO IT, Finance (reduce manual Exception Process Automated notification to partners and processing of exceptions) publisher staff Faster Revenue Realization - faster reconciliation of error drives faster payment on errors

21 So What Have We Discussed Today? The Business-to-Partner t Integration ti Complication As sales channels for selling physical and digital media grow and develop, publishers must confront and solve a series of business complications in order to capitalize on new revenue opportunities: Increasing complexity due to the range of data exchange methods to support and the number of files that must be exchanged between partners Need for improved visibility and monitoring over data as it moves between back and forth between internal systems and external partners Need for better connectivity, it automation, ti and auditability for fast and efficient i data processing and problem resolution Need for a scalable solution that efficiently and accurately handles quickly growing volumes of partner transactions especially with digital sales data 21

22 So What Have We Discussed Today? The Business-to-Partner t Integration ti Solution Comprehensive Business-to-Partner integration solutions give publishers a competitive advantage in the marketplace by solving many of the channel partner business complications: Reducing the complexity associated with establishing connections with electronic retailers, moving data, and processing transactions Providing visibility and real time tracking of transaction data as it is exchanged so that business and IT users can quickly respond to inquiries, solve issues as the arise, and proactively analyze data for audit, reporting, and forecasting Automating tasks associated with processing, translating, and routing data for more efficient back office operations, faster data analysis, and the ability to handle growing volumes of partner transactions with no or little impact to the business 22

23 To Learn More: Business Integration Solutions By Sterling Commerce, an IBM Company Recognized as a leader in Gartner s Magic Quadrant for B2B Gateway Providers Over 18,000 worldwide customers, including 80% of the FORTUNE 500, use Sterling Solutions Backed by the worldwide resources of IBM 23