| | August 20168CIOReviewNavigating a Smooth Journey to Supply Chain CloudBy Jon Chorley, CSO & GVP-SCM Strategy & PLM Development, Oracle [NYSE: ORCL]In the decades leading up to Y2K, decisions about supply chain web applications were relatively straightforward. There were only a couple of vendors, and the stack consisted of enterprise resource planning (ERP) and material requirements planning (MRP); it was all on-premises. As software evolved, new apps were added that sought to address different areas, such as more sophisticated planning, transportation optimization, and cross supply chain collaboration. These apps were usually delivered as point solutions to solve that one particular problem, but often created inconsistencies, misalignments, and integration complexity. These differences also added significantly to the amount of specialized knowledge that the supply chain organization required to keep the system running. Another aspirational theme was to transform a set of applications fundamentally designed for the "island enterprise" into applications that manage a complex, multi-enterprise value chain, and switch from being an "Inside-Out" organization that focuses first on the needs of the organization to an "Outside-In" organization that focuses first on the needs of the customer. In other words, organizations were trying to fit a square peg into a round hole with their supply chain philosophies. The unfortunate net effect of all of these good intentions has too often led to reduced flexibility and increased cost and frustration. As system complexity grew, supply chains became an inhibitor to business growth, not an enabler. Supply chains became the long pole in the tent of a new product introduction; the most complex part of an acquisition. Supply chains became the reason not to change, instead of being the engine of change.Fast forward to present day: We have new reference models for the 21st century supply chain. We have new tools and technology. We have new standards and unified processes. IN MY OPINIONBusinesses should be developing an end-to-end strategy around supply chain cloud deployment to maximize their ability to make supply chain an enabler of business changeJon Chorley$$ $
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