This Week in IDEA | December 20, 2006

New IRD CERICOMX® Customers

IDEA, a 1SYNC Data Pool On-Board Solution (OBS) partner, implements suppliers that subscribe to the 1SYNC data pool using IDEA's IRD CERICOMX application. IDEA was recently assigned the following eight suppliers:

- Mayborn USA
- Total Resources International
- DeGoede Brothers LLC
- Global Design Concepts, Inc.
- International Wholesale Tile, Inc.
- Kiss Products Inc.
- Mission Produce, Inc.
- Toner Plastics, Inc.

These companies will be trained to use IRD CERICOMX®, an IDEA branded product for supporting and uploading supplier product information into the GS1 Registry® and GDSN via the 1SYNC Data Pool.

If you would like to learn more about the CERICOMX® product, please contact John Etrie, IDEA IRD Product Manager, here or at (703) 562-4624; or Tony Gaffney, IDEA CERICOMX® Implementation Manager, here or at (508) 386-0261.

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IDEA Thanks Lee Hunter for Service on Board of Directors

IDEA would like to extend appreciation to Lee Hunter, VP of IT Services, Southwire Company, for three years of dedicated service and representation on the Board of Directors. His replacement will be Phil Tuggle, Senior VP, Southwire Company.

Southwire Company is North America’s largest producer of building wire. Southwire markets a wide variety of wire products that distribute electricity through offices, industrial buildings, stores, homes and other buildings. Electrical contractors, industrial engineers and residential do-it-yourselfers use Southwire’s building wire products every day.

A current list of the IDEA Board of Directors can be found here.

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Don’t Shortchange the Value in Data

In a survey of more than 100 top corporate executives, 71 percent called the data in their company's information systems "potentially very valuable" -- and most of them said it would become even more valuable as a source of competitive advantage in the next year. Unfortunately, only 43 percent said their company had been very effective in converting this data into usable knowledge.

When was the last time you remember being pleasantly surprised by how effectively a company used its data to improve sales or customer service?

We all remember back in the '90s the wow factor behind going to an ATM and seeing our actual name on the screen for the first time. We all remember the first time we experienced collaborative filtering from an eCommerce site -- "if you liked this, you may also like..."

But lately it seems the corporate world's flattened out or fallen off the learning curve in leveraging the data it has -- as evidenced by the mostly off-target way the product information is published and provided to its trading partners.

But there may be a reason for that, according to the latest Management Barometer survey from PricewaterhouseCoopers. The study basically found that corporate data isn't being converted into usable knowledge nearly as often or as effectively as it could be -- not for lack of available technology, but for lack of corporate willpower.

In the survey of more than 100 top corporate execs, 71 percent called the data in their company's information systems "potentially very valuable" -- and most of them said it would become even more valuable as a source of competitive advantage in the next year.

Unfortunately, only 43 percent said their company had been very effective in converting this data into usable knowledge, citing numerous issues, including data consistency, timeliness, accuracy, and so on.
Interestingly, when asked about the keys to unlocking their data's value, the No. 1 response was "the ability to mine or interpret data" (75 percent), followed closely by "the ability of IT systems to deliver data assets" (70 percent) and "ability to get real-time information" and "integration of data with business processes" (66 percent each). Bringing up the rear were "an enterprise wide data strategy" (54 percent) and "a data governance structure" (52 percent).
Strategy and governance - not so important, huh? But wait -- it gets better. A full 74 percent of the executives said the main barrier to realizing the value of corporate data was "competing corporate priorities," far ahead of the 35 percent who cited "technology issues."

As often quoted, "Where there's a will, there's a way." What this survey is telling us -- albeit behind a smokescreen of operational issues -- is that leveraging data isn't yet a top corporate priority.
Data is a bit like global warming. Many people see it as an issue, but nobody really owns the issue, so it often suffers from a lack of focused effort. Will manufacturers heed the wake-up call on the importance of leveraging data in time to outpace their competition? Or will they stand by and lose out to rivals that know how to put data to work?

Time will tell. In the meantime, give yourself a break, IT. Most likely, the problem isn't with the technology and data capabilities you've put in place. The problem -- if your company has one -- is that the top team just hasn't yet "gotten the memo."

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Happy Holidays from IDEA

IDEA would like to thank you all for your business and support in 2006. It has been a pleasure helping you reach your goals. We are grateful for good customers and friends like you, who make our work satisfying and enjoyable. We look forward to working with you in 2007 and contributing to your success. The entire IDEA staff wishes you and yours Happy Holidays and a very prosperous and happy new year!

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