Can you trust your software vendor with critical data and applications that are sitting in a server at a remote location? The model offers numerous advantages-and some caveats as well.

With an economy that is clearly headed south, forecasting and demand planning will require new thinking, processes and technologies to keep supply chains running smoothly and efficiently.

Whether to acquire supply chain solutions from a best-of-breed vendor or an enterprise resource planning vendor is still a relevant question, but the competitive landscape has changed markedly in recent years.