Economic turmoil causes companies to rethink their B2B strategies

Sterling Commerce, an AT&T Inc. company, has announced the results of a 2010 Vanson Bourne OmniBoss survey on strategies for business-to-business (B2B) integration.

The survey polled 600 senior IT decision-makers at large organizations across the financial services, manufacturing, distribution, transportation and other commercial sectors in the United States (U.S.), United Kingdom (U.K.), France and Germany.

A majority (78 percent) believe the recession is at least half or completely over.

Eighty-five percent say they will invest about the same amount or more than last year in B2B integration software or services.

Companies believe uncertainty in the B2B integration vendor market puts their business at risk

• 45 percent of respondents say cuts in IT budgets are preventing them from finding a contingency in case of a change in their B2B vendor
• A large number of companies (41 percent) are aware of the uncertainty and instability in the B2B integration vendor landscape. Members of this group say this instability could affect their business:
• 53 percent believe it could have a direct impact on their trading partner integration
• 43 percent claim it could disrupt their supply chain and have an impact on costs

Businesses are actively rethinking their B2B strategies

• Among companies that are aware of the instability, many are taking preventative measures:
• 84 percent are either rethinking or believe they should be rethinking their B2B integration strategy
• 41 percent are rethinking their B2B integration strategy due to uncertainty in the B2B integration vendor landscape
• 60 percent are actively considering changing their B2B integration vendor over the next year
• Only 7 percent do not have any concerns about their B2B integration vendor
• In addition to offsetting vendor instability, companies are rethinking their B2B strategies because:
• 66 percent say economic uncertainty has affected headcounts or budgets
• Economic uncertainty is more a concern in the U.S. (70 percent) than the U.K. (46 percent)
• 40 percent need to reduce the cost of the way they do B2B integration

Financial stability and choice of deployment, including mobile options, are key selection criteria in choosing B2B provider

• When asked what is the most important capability to them in a B2B vendor:
• 38 percent of companies cited financial stability
• Financial stability is a bigger concern in the U.S. than Europe, with 46 percent of companies in the U.S. actively looking for a more financially-stable B2B vendor versus 18 percent in Germany and the U.K. and 9 percent in France
• 28 percent said the ability to deliver a solution both on premise and as a service (including managed service)
• 57 percent say that they predict effectiveness and productivity enhancements as a result of added visibilityinto their B2B data via a mobile device

Quotes:
Josh Hardy, director of product marketing, at Sterling Commerce: “Major destabilizing activity, such as mergers between B2B integration vendors, is having an impact on companies who are concerned about the financial stability of their B2B partner and realize they need a new approach to B2B integration to insulate their business from risk. Companies now demand B2B integration capabilities that can be deployed, defined and extended in a way that corresponds with the individual needs of their business. This is where a selection of implementation options such as cloud-based B2B integration, come into their own to deliver fast return on investment and flexibility, at an affordable cost.”