Analyst Insight: The retail industry will face many difficult challenges in 2010. Unemployment and underemployment are high and living standards for Americans continue to erode, leaving little money for purchases outside of necessities. Also, issues in housing, banking and health care will continue. Although there may not be much sales growth in 2010, retailers can still strengthen their bottom lines by having an effective retail supply chain, which is essential to reduce costs and maintain high service levels.

Analyst Insight: Some have said SOA is dead, killed off by overambitious zealots, underperforming products, and bloated service engagements. Perhaps the SOA of their dreams is dead, but the real SOA is very much alive. It just happens to look a lot like past software...only a bit faster, cheaper, and better.

Analyst Insight: Analyzing the right metrics is obviously essential for accomplishing the difficult task of maintaining and improving quality at every single step of the supply chain. Still, basic principles must first be applied in order to achieve better performance and accurately measure supply chain behavior.

Analyst Insight: The regulatory environment for food and beverage manufacturers is changing. President Obama has reinvigorated the FDA's Food Safety Working Group and change is on the way. It is more important than ever for food and beverage manufacturers to get ahead of the curve and ensure food safety and traceability across their entire supply chains, from the field to the fork.

Analyst Insight: Today, sustainability is on the agenda of the highest-ranking corporate executives, as well as line-of-business managers. It is time for companies to take a more serious look at the role sustainability can play in making their supply chains more viable, competitive and best aligned with the Triple Bottom Line of profits, people and planet.

Analyst Insight: Leading companies doing business in China - both sourcing and selling to the local market - are revamping their supply chains to minimize costs and empower their growth agendas. China is leading the world economy out of its current recession, and executives are looking to supply chain improvements to fuel their own company's comeback.

Analyst Insight: The recent, highly publicized food incidents and drug recalls have eroded public confidence in the FDA's ability to protect consumers from harm. The goal of the new Commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration, Dr. Margaret A. Hamburg, is to restore public confidence in the process. To do so, she is enacting new procedures designed to enforce existing laws.