16 December 2002 -- In its new report, Travelling the collaboration continuum requires a Road Map, the Yankee Group finds that industry leaders have successfully integrated and optimised their internal processes.
They are now extending these processes and integrating them with key suppliers and service providers - expanding into collaborative relationships and transforming traditional supply chains into "collaborative webs".
Integrating internal business processes is old news. Enterprises will concentrate on outsourcing processes, collaborating with business partners and increasing inter-enterprise process integration.
According to research conducted by the Yankee Group, worldwide IT outsourcing will grow 10-12% annually to USD274bn by 2006, and projects business process outsourcing to grow between 12 percent and 20 percent annually to USD500bn.
"Outsourcers must invest in collaborative applications and integration technologies to support deeper relationships with existing customers," says report author Michael Dominy, Yankee Group Business Applications & Commerce senior analyst.
"Integration technologies also enable outsourcers to broaden their market coverage by increasing the number of customers the can manage. Enterprises must purchase collaborative applications to support the activities such as product design and development, and marketing an branding.
"They also must invest in integration technologies to support data and information sharing with outsourcers, customers and other business partners."
This report aims to provide enterprises with a clear course of action so they can travel the collaboration continuum and solve the collaboration conundrum.