Conclusion 05: Supply Chain Management

IT executives have yet to embrace e-business for supply chain management. The most frequently planned or implemented option is electronic procurement, which only 46 percent have initiated. And 72 percent have no plans to implement strategic sourcing. Overall, businesses are putting few supply chain management systems in place.

Two thirds of large companies are committed to an e-commerce procurement solution. But they're much less interested in other supply chain management offerings. Around 60 percent of those in larger companies have no plans to implement demand forecasting and pricing, logistics, so-called strategic sourcing or—the buzzword of early B2B—electronic marketplaces. Small businesses significantly drag down the averages for electronic procurement and strategic sourcing. Sixty-two percent have no intention of implementing e-procurement, and 78 percent don't plan to implement strategic sourcing solutions.

While many larger businesses missed their goals for decreasing operating costs (96 percent expected gains, while only 81 percent achieved them) and increasing profit margins (53 percent expected, 31 percent achieved), these losses were balanced out by surprising gains in getting products and services to market more quickly (37 percent expected, 56 percent achieved) and creating new lines of business or products (22 percent vs. 38 percent).