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For most enterprises, conducting business today and successfully delivering goods and services to their customers means managing an increasingly complex set of relationships with suppliers, distributors, partners, and other third-party stakeholders. Not only are these third-party relationships growing in complexity, the influence and impact from these relationships on a business and its supply chain is growing as well. One example of this is the huge rise in contingent workers [Sidebar: you’ve seen heavy coverage of this topic on CPO Rising because of the growth in impact and size of this spend and because we believe procurement should be heavily involved in managing it].

Over the last decade, globalization and highly-evolved supply chains, better levels of visibility and connectivity to the “extended” enterprise have been critical elements of maintaining and improving competitiveness. Traditionally, supplier enablement and participation has been the biggest hurdle to advancing B2B connectivity; as a result, many enterprises find themselves connected to a small percentage of their suppliers. This has to change going forward since the competitive nature of business today demands that enterprises be more aware of their supply chains and work to better engage, interact and communicate with a much larger percentage of their of suppliers.

Enter business networks which, in concert with cloud technology, are leading the charge towards a new era of enterprise technology that is centered on connecting businesses to each other and enabling easier and more efficient communication and interaction across entire supply chains. Three of the largest and most mature business networks to consider are Ariba, Basware, and Hubwoo. Many new providers have also entered the fray in recent years, including Nipendo.

If connecting businesses to transact and interact electronically is going to drive the next wave of value for the enterprise, there is much to be learned from the networks and technologies that have been wildly successful in the consumer world. Consider the following examples:

• Facebook connects over 1 billion users worldwide and allows them to share information, interact, communicate and much more. It is also a platform where users can access millions of apps that add value to their experience and where businesses can conduct targeted advertising.
• Apple’s App Store contains over 1 million apps and Apple’s customers have downloaded 50 billion apps since its inception in 2008. The vast majority of the apps are built by third-party developers and their availability in the App Store is a major attraction for the users, improving their experience and increasing the value that they get from participating in the Apple network.
• LinkedIn has over 270 million users, 3 million businesses have a LinkedIn page and there are 2.1 million LinkedIn groups that communicate and collaborate regularly.

Business networks, for the most part, are still in their early stages but they are evolving rapidly and there is huge potential for growth in both size and capability.

To close, here are some key statistics that AP, Finance, Procurement and Shared Service leaders should know about B2B Networks:

• 55% agree that B2B networks will eventually become the main platform for trading partners to conduct business – Tweet This!
• 73% believe that B2B networks enhance collaboration between buyers and suppliers – Tweet This!
• 75% agree that B2B networks are beneficial to buyers and suppliers – Tweet This!
• 54% agree that B2B networks are an increasing source of new business for suppliers – Tweet This!
• 49% agree that B2B networks are increasingly likely to adopt social network features – Tweet This!

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Tagged in: Ardent Partners Research, CEO, CFO, Chief Procurement Officer, Collaboration, Networks, P2P, Solution Providers, Supplier Relationship Management, Technology