Standards Matter August 30, 2007
Posted by Jonathan Gatrell in EDI, Technology.comments closed
I had the opportunity to read the latest eCommerce Connexion this morning and there is a continued growth in standards and work is great being done by many groups to further the value of automation and a standard way of interacting. I am actively involved in ASC X12 and other groups. X12 is the most widely used standard for automating business processes, and Ralph Berwanger’s take is very interesting view:
One of ASC X12’s distinguishing characteristics is its depth of business process knowledge, which is a key component to today’s universal language of Internet commerce. One of ASC X12’s greatest strengths is its member diversity, enabling participants to address both vertical-specific and cross-industry business processes, with the goal of creating a true standard for multiple industries.
The increasing relevance of the work that standard’s bodies are delivering is a common way to communicate and automate processes globally. There are a great deal of options of where to get involved, but the core item is try and find a way to get invovled and share your expertise to drive B2B interoperability. What standards do you use? What organizations do you participate in? Let us know.
Check these standards organizations out and get involved:
www.x12.org
www.unece.org
www.vics.org
www.openapplications.org
www.gs1.org
www.aiag.org
Question of the Week (Answer and You Shall Receive) August 30, 2007
Posted by Meg Sewell in Analytics and Business Intelligence, Business Community Management, News, Supply Chain Visibility, Technology.comments closed
I recently came across a blog post by Jon Burg about Twitter and his thoughts on how to make it more mainstream. Twitter is a really neat program that started out with a boom, should be following in the footsteps of Facebook and Myspace and yet still hasn’t reached its peak. This online program started to really remind me of technology that has attracted attention in Inovis’ realm: RFID. Like Twitter, RFID is cool technology that has sparked a lot of attention but has not yet been fully utilized. The biggest correlation is that both can track your every move.
RFID is probably even cooler than you already think it is. In Germany, RFID is being used to test face detection software in an attempt to prevent future terrorism. Portugal’s government required that all dogs be tagged by 2007 in order to control rabies. Event organizers in South Africa are using RFID to collect data about their attendees. In the UK, the Edexcel examination board is adding RFID tags to exam packages to stop cheaters in their tracks. All runners in the Boston Marathon have RFID tags attached to their shoelaces so their progress can be tracked throughout the race and their placement may be identified at the finish line. Some hospitals keep track of patients, doctors and drugs with RFID while airports are working toward using RFID to do away with pesky luggage displacement.
Here’s the big question: how are YOU using RFID? Through your valuable feedback, we can not only make sure we’re positioned to help you implement your solutions, but also help craft our own strategy with RFID as well. As a token of appreciation for your valuable input, we’ll send a logo bean to every person who comments.
Fresh From Freeway August 29, 2007
Posted by Meg Sewell in News.comments closed
Today I am pleased to bring you a piece that Emma Lund from Freeway Commerce sent me on her thoughts and experiences with the recent acquisition:
There had been rumours flying around the office for a number of weeks that we were being bought out by a big American company. Everyone seemed to have a different take on what was about to happen and the future of Freeway.
The announcement was made on the 1st August that Freeway Commerce had been acquired by Inovis. I think the primary feeling across both of our offices was mixed. Everyone wanted to know what it meant for them. I feel that the initial celebrations may have been over shadowed by the departure of our Managing Directors. Freeway is a close company and although following the acquisition their departure was inevitable, it was still a sad moment for us all and left a somber mood in the office.
Our management team then made a conscious effort to ensure that any questions we had were answered and following this the general atmosphere in the office became a lot more positive.
Over the last few weeks, the presence of Vicki Sewell, Steve Clarke and Matt Pritchett has been welcomed and they have gelled well with the teams, although the differences in dialect with Vicki and Matt have caused some amusement on both sides.
On her way to the office one morning, Vicki had car problems and messaged Carl at the office saying, ‘I’ve got a flat, call me.’ In the UK “flat” means “apartment,” so Carl thought his luck was in. Fortunately the intention behind her message was quickly realised and help was soon on its way.
At the end of last week Matt joined in with a customary Friday evening trip to the local pub to begin the weekend and also experienced a traditional British chippy tea, an initiation so to speak. To begin with he was confused by the concept of fish and chips; maybe a more appropriate translation would be fish and fries.
Some of our teams have received some training from Matt on Inovisworks. I think this was a turning point, especially for me regarding my opinion of Inovis and the future of Freeway. Inovisworks is far more advanced than the current mailbox administration facilities we have and will benefit all of us and make our jobs a lot more efficient. This made me realise how technologically advanced Inovis is compared to our current mailbox providers and with the assistance of Inovis our products will also be enhanced which will benefit our clients as well.
Also over the course of last week we all participated in small group meetings with Vicki. This involved discussing our job roles, explaining the way we work and also gave us the opportunity to ask any questions that were concerning us. I found this particularly beneficial as it gave us an insight into the way that Inovis handled Manged Services in America and therefore gave myself as a member of the Spectrum Enterprise Managed Service Team ideas as to how to improve the way we currently operate.
It feels like a new phase of Freeway is evolving and giving us the opportunity to progress in our sector where before we had reached a plateau and Inovis is giving us the boost we needed to do this.
-Emma Lund, Managed Services Team
Free book: Just comment August 28, 2007
Posted by mukundmohan in Business Community Management, News, Technology.comments closed
I read Jeff’s blog pretty frequently and he always has a good thing or two that’s insightful. But this is the best thing I learned from his blog, so much that I am going to promote the idea further.
Every week I’ll give a book away to the first person who COMMENTS below. This book will be from my current (not an old book), but a recent book that I have read and in EXCHANGE: (there’s no such thing as a free lunch remember) after you read the book, you have to blog/write/email us the top 3 things you took away from that book.
I’ll ship anywhere in the world. Please DO NOT put your address in your comment. We’ll contact you by email. Expect an email from either me or Heidi.
Today’s book: The art of the start by Guy Kawasaki
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