Analyst Insight: The industrial economy has been replaced by the information economy. For high-tech supply chains battling the recession and focusing on demand-driven strategies, it's the customer that has undergone the most dramatic transformation. Selling, fulfilling and servicing these customers will require new supply chain designs.

Analyst Insight: No one could miss the continued consolidation of supply chain planning applications in the last few years. In spite of the more traditional player consolidations, new firms and new approaches have emerged that have caught buyers' eyes, from demand creation and merchandising planning to richer analytic engines to help fine-tune forecasting accuracy, as well as on-demand delivery platforms for these solutions.

Analyst Insight: The number one strategy for companies in the chemical and energy industries is to improve demand orchestration as the economy recovers. Planning processes must manage pricing, capacity allocation, and inventory positioning to manage margins. In addition, operational processes must have visibility and business rules to manage commitments and respond to volatility. These industries are more mature than others in their approach to asset management, energy management and compliance.