Three events from 2009 will have a more far-reaching impact than any other in the supply chain space, primarily because they're priming the conditions for still more vendor competition and industry volatility in the year to come, according to a new commentary from Technology Evaluation Centers (TEC).

The three events are Oracle's launch of Fusion applications, its mishmash of E-Business Suite/PeopleSoft/JDE/Siebel applications; second is JDA's acquisition of i2 Technologies; and last is SAP's adoption of the SaaS business model with SAP Business ByDesign.

As for 2010, TEC analysts say market conditions will continue to be volatile and organizations need to adapt to change quickly and effectively. Three keys to success in 2010: 

• Focus on creating a flexible supply chain that can handle uncertainty and volatility with respect to demand/price changes.
• Develop operational strategies focused on product branding and customers to provide customer-centric models.
• Create a model of collaboration with partners that will provide end-to-end visibility into the extended supply chain.

TEC analysts say that organizations will only survive in the years ahead if they focus on adaptability to change, whether through best use of technology, or via mergers and acquisitions, rethinking of product strategies, or product delivery platform redesign. As Charles Darwin said: "It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent that survives. It is the one that is the most adaptable to change."

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