This exclusive Yankee Group White Paper reveals and examines how mid-size businesses can now build a real-time enterprises and leverage real-time information. Learn how to reduce scattered information and silo databases that prevent your enterprise from achieving operational excellence.
Yankee Executive Summary
Business Reality of the
Mid-Market Real-Time Enterprise
This Yankee Executive Summary explores the vision of the real-time enterprise,creating new operational efficiencies, improving customer relationships, andmake better business decisions faster. The vast majority of businesses haveinformation scattered throughout the enterprise on paper, in siloed databases,and in e-mails, making real-time operations difficult to achieve. This paperexplores the benefits and technology challenges mid-size businesses face intheir real-time enterprise efforts. Addressing the needs of midsize businesses, NetSuite is the only applicationthat integrates front- and back-office operations in one robust application.Built from the ground up for growing companies, NetSuite streamlines business flows and provides the entire company a 360-degree real-time viewof the customer.After reading this Executive Summary, please contact us at 1-877-NETSUITE tolearn how our 7,000 customers to date are achieving the real-time enterprise.
THE
YANKEEGROUP
Find out more: contact NetSuite at 1-877 NETSUITE or visit www.netsuite.com Updated 9/18/03 White PaperT H E Customer Relationship ManagementStrategiesJuly 2003by Sheryl Kingstone
The Business Reality of the Mid-MarketYANKEEReal-Time EnterpriseG R O U P
Executive SummaryThe vision of the real-time enterprise (RTE) is gaining momentum quickly and easily. However,although implementing and achieving RTE is not necessarily easy-it can take significant time andT
money-the business case is obvious. Every company needs to run in real time to create newR operational efficiencies, improve customer relationships, and make better business decisions faster. However, many companies do not have any access (let alone in real time) to basic informationO
required for effective decision-making. The vast majority of businesses have informationscattered throughout the enterprise on paper, in siloed databases, and in e-mails. P
Making the changes necessary to achieve RTE and setting the business objectives will requireE
specific technology changes.R Enterprises should consider two levels of RTE: 1. Real-time information collaboration for operational effectivenessP 2. Real-time data for machine-to-machine operational efficiencyU Although both improve operational performance, the business benefits of real time informationwill have a stronger impact on improving top-line revenue. Machine-to-machine operationsO primarily affect the bottom line, through cost reduction.
R
Exhibit 1G What's Needed to Achieve Real-Time InformationSource: The Yankee Group, 2003
E
E Supplier Partner Employee Customer
K
N
DashboardA
Back Office Front OfficeY
Supply Chain Engineering Distribution Office ProductiveInventory Finance Ordering Web PresenceE
Production HR Service MarketingH
Integrated Business Processes and ApplicationsT Common Data Repository
Copyright 2003, the Yankee GroupThe Yankee Group Report is published for the sole use of Yankee Group Advisory Service members. It may not be duplicated, reproduced, stored in aretrieval system, or retransmitted without the express permission of the Yankee Group, 31 St. James Ave., Boston, MA 02116. Phone: (617) 956-5000.Fax: (617) 956-5005. The Yankee Group can be reached by e-mail at: info@yankeegroup.com. For more information, contact the Yankee Group.All rights reserved. All opinions and estimates herein constitute our judgment as of this date and are subject to change without notice.Customer Relationship Management Strategies
A variety of technology options enable the real-time enterprise, such as Web services,middleware, data warehousing, and enterprise application suites. The most appropriate option depends on the size of the company, current applicationinfrastructure, and business process goals and objectives. This report examines the businessbenefits of operating in real time, and includes a review of the technology options that optimizethe enterprise for improved performance (see Exhibit 1).
Table of Contents
I. What is Real Time Enterprise . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
I. Technology Options for becoming a Real Time Enterprise . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
III. Conclusion: What is Right for my Business? . . . . . . . . . . .... [download for more]
