Analyst Insight: As supply chain complexity increases, together with an accelerating pace of business, supply chain visibility becomes critical. Some companies boast of immediate access to any information they need within their four walls; but this is simply no longer a competitive capability. In the quest for faster go-to-market and time-to-customer, real-time – or near real-time – continuous access and visibility is necessary not only within the four walls but across the extended supply chain. This remains an elusive goal for many companies. – Robert Eastman, Senior Analyst, Technology Evaluation Centers

Analyst Insight: The true value of supplier relationship management is not what you think. It isn't just about managing a bi-directional relationship between the buyer and supplier – it's about managing the extended supply network (customers' customers and suppliers' suppliers). In today's business, the best network of relationships achieves optimal results; thus, managing the supplier relationship is not only critical to success, it's mandatory if full value is to be extracted for both the buyer and the supplier. – Mickey North Rizza, BravoSolution

Analyst Insight: Let's start at the very beginning. Supply chain DNA is focused on costs while providing acceptable service to customers. Marketing DNA is focused on revenues that come from the sales and services. As a result, the only shared value between marketing and supply chain people is the recognition that "stuff has to get to customers." To marketing, the term "minimize" only relates to the number of times a customer is dissatisfied, whereas to supply chain, "minimize" is the Holy Grail. – Robert Sabath, Principal Essentialist SCM, Trissential

Analyst Insight: As the concept of supply chain risk management matures into a discipline, we witnessed that most disciplines need frameworks to ensure initial success and sustainability. This is holding true for the growth and maturity of SCRM. The Association for Operations Management, or APICS, has embraced SCRM by working with the Risk Consortium to create a first-of-a-kind certificate in SCRM, providing a solid baseline for what a framework is and how it supports a successful supply chain journey. – Gregory L. Schlegel, Founder, The Supply Chain Risk Management Consortium, Adjunct Professor, Supply Chain Risk Management, Lehigh University, and Adjunct Professor, Enterprise Risk Management, Villanova University

Analyst Insight: Supply chain risk management is an evolution of business processes, techniques and focus over a multitude of elements. As supply chains have evolved to value chains, so too have the methods for supply chain risk management. Value chain risk management requires a broader integrated strategy, focused on reducing the risk at each point in the value chain, while balancing risk and resiliency. – Mickey North Rizza, BravoSolution

Analyst Insight: There needs to be a clear line of sight between what is in the contract (and the contractual obligations of both parties), the performance metrics or KPIs, and the relationship, including a 360º perception of the relationship. However in practice this is rarely the case. – Alan Day, Chairman & Founder, State of Flux