Amazon and Corporate Digital Procurement

A key topic to manage  in the enterprise.  And managing the components of products you need to procure.

Amazon Business brings procurement into the digital era   By Betsy Amy-Vogt in Silicon Angle

Everyone knows (and loves) Amazon Prime for its fast, free shipping and wealth of associated benefits.  Lesser known is that Amazon has a Business platform that offers similar benefits to help companies simplify the procurement process.

“Corporate procurement is really hard and cumbersome,” said David Stout (pictured), head of global alliances and partnerships of Amazon Business. “We’re really trying to focus on [bringing] that experience [of Amazon Prime] for consumers. Taking that same ease of use and experience to the business world.”

Stout spoke with Lisa Martin (@LisaMartinTV) and Stu Miniman (@stu), co-hosts of theCUBE, SiliconANGLE Media’s mobile livestreaming studio, during the recent AWS re:Invent conference in Las Vegas. They discussed the impact of digital transformation on the procurement process and how data has aligned IT and procurement goals. (* Disclosure below.)  .... "

No Exceptions

Nicely done piece by William Vorhies of DSC.  Worth always keeping in mind.  He also provides a favorite quote from James Thurber.   I like it.   Good detail at the link:

When Variable Reduction Doesn’t Work
Posted by William Vorhies     


Summary:  Exceptions sometimes make the best rules.  Here’s an example of well accepted variable reduction techniques resulting in an inferior model and a case for dramatically expanding the number of variables we start with.

One of the things that keeps us data scientists on our toes is that the well-established rules-of-thumb don’t always work.  Certainly one of the most well-worn of these rules is the parsimonious model; always seek to create the best model with the fewest variables.  And woe to you who violate this rule.  Your model will over fit, include false random correlations, or at very least will just be judged to be slow and clunky.

Certainly this is a rule I embrace when building models so I was surprised and then delighted to find a well conducted study by Lexis/Nexis that lays out a case where this clearly isn’t true.  ... " 

Machine Learning for Simplifying Migration

A use case for Machine Learning – migration simplification.  By its nature machine learning does promote opportunities for simplification.  Can think of several not related to this.   In Techrepublic   " SAP invests in machine learning to simplify customer transition to cloud ... SAP believes it has the capabilities to deliver machine learning solutions to help customers improve their end-customer journey and tackle issues that were previously too costly. .... " 

Challenge and Value of Simplicity

Simplicity is challenging, but essential.  A look from the retail perspective.  In Retailwire:   " .... For the third straight year, Aldi ranked first in Siegel+Gale's Global Brand Simplicity Index. The grocer was commended for its "uncomplicated offers, low prices, high-quality products and great customer service" as well as "transparent price comparisons." .... " 

Big Data and Storytelling

Good piece.  Though I retain my opinion that the accuracy and ability to interact with the data is more important.   Your story still has to first be an accurate one, not just a narrative you would like to have the data support. ...   And include the tale of why it is of value.

Data Storytelling: Big Data's Next Frontier
5 Tips to yield the best return on this year's Big Data investment (and, they're not about technology)! ... "

Simplicity Should Break Ties.

In Gartner Blog:  Completely agree.   And I will take the argument a step further.  Simplicity should also guide your ordering of methods under consideration.  Keep it simple, visual, ordered and rational. With the agility to back out.

One Marketing Metric

I like simple metrics, especially linked to actual funds,  but are these accurately measurable and stable?  In Adage: " .... One Marketing Metric to Rule Them All? Group Believes It Has One .. Lengthy Test Across 100 Brands Is Step Toward Linking Marketing To Cash Flow ... " 

Why Simple Brands Win

In the HBR.    Good piece on the topic that has been of considerable impact in CPG.  But the effect is broader than that.  Points out the increasing watch paid to simplicity:

" ... For the past six years, Siegel+Gale has published its Global Brand Simplicity Index — a study based on a survey of thousands of consumers from around the globe — that ranks brands according to their perceived simplicity or complexity, and the overall simplicity rating of a brand’s industry. This year’s index, derived from the responses of more than 12,000 consumers in eight countries, provides a definitive measure of which brands excel at providing simple experiences – and reveals rising brands that could threaten these incumbents. ... " 

Journey Mapping for Digital

This made me think.  Could there be a way to map the enterprise, and the customers, and concentrate on their intersection?    Might even be interesting to stub in the places for a Sim Enterprise.  Digital modeling digital?   Does someone have the data?

Knowledge@Wharton:
" ... Digital technologies such as analytics, mobility, social networks, cloud computing and the Internet of Things are making old ways of working redundant and forcing companies to transform. According to Raman Sapra, global head of Dell’s digital business services, the best way to leverage digital is to take a comprehensive rather than a piecemeal approach. And a key tool to achieve this is customer journey mapping, where powerful new data collection and analytics tools are helping to provide deeper insights to fuel performance. In this paper, experts from Wharton and Dell examine how this mapping is at the heart of digital transformation. ... " 

DropBox Paper for Simplicity

In Wired:  Dropbox is building  a collaboration and work space tool called Paper to let people in small business work together to get things done.  In early beta.  To manipulate all of those files you have been gathering.  Simple, flexible and creative.  I like getting back to simple.  But are we ready to get back to simple?

Business HR Simplification

On  simplifying HR in Knowledge@Wharton:

Human resources departments manage a company’s most precious resource — employees — and yet many still use outdated systems that introduce inefficiencies. As companies grow, merge, restructure or enter new markets, the need for business simplification is more urgent than ever, especially in HR. Data analytics can help a company make the right hires, recognize talent and find ways to develop and retain promising workers. ... " 

Re Thinking the Database

Can the Database be made fundamentally easier to work with?  Democratizing its power.    In SiliconAngle:

" ... Databases aren’t for everyone. They’re incredibly complex things to work with, and generally only those with the requisite expertise and training even contemplate doing so.

But that might change if Airtable has its way. The startup is aiming to make databases so simple that even those with just basic computer skills will be able to use them. The idea is a simple one – Airtable works like a spreadsheet, but gives users the organizational power that only a database affords. On Monday, the company announced it had secured $7.6 million in series A funding ....  " 

Simple database systems have been around since the start of personal computing.   Its connecting these to working system architecture reliably that can be complex.

Business Simplification

In Knowledge@Wharton: 

" ... Business simplification is a strategic imperative for today’s companies if they wish to unlock innovation and position themselves for future success in an increasingly complex world. Yet, many corporations are not aligning their actions more effectively with their stated goals of simplifying business processes, decision-making and IT functions — and as such risk falling behind nimbler competitors, according to the “Simplifying the Future of Work Study,” a survey conducted by Knowledge@ Wharton and SAP. ....  "

Surprise and Simplicity in User Experience

Discussion in Retailwire:   Good thoughts on the retail user experience.    It should be about delighting the consumer I was always told, but the balance with simplicity is also important:.   From the Lenati blog:

" ... As customer experience strategists, we are seeing two popular competing approaches to customer experience (CX)—“surprise and delight” versus “effortless simplicity.” These are both valid CX approaches depending on the customer’s context, and this has led to a fair bit of confusion around how people speak about CX design.  At Lenati, we feel it’s time to clear that up  ... "    (Good thoughtful read)

P&G Focuses, Simplifies

From the P&G Alumni Network.  Large companies need to simplify and focus on profit.

" .. The Procter & Gamble Company today announced the sale of its Camay and Zest brands along with the transfer of a manufacturing facility in Mexico to Unilever for an undisclosed amount. The transaction is expected to close during the first half of 2015 subject to necessary regulatory approvals.

The deal involves the global sale of the Camay brand, the sale of the Zest brand outside of North America and the Caribbean and the sale of the Talisman manufacturing facility in Mexico. The plant employs approximately 170 people who will transfer to Unilever at the completion of the deal.

P&G noted that the sale of both brands is consistent with its strategy to focus on its core brands that will create a faster growing, more profitable P&G that is far simpler to operate. ... " 

P&G Merging and Divesting Brands

In Adage:  P&G Will Merge or Divest More Than Half of Its Brands ... Marketer Will Continue To Cut Ad Spending ... Which leads to the question of how much SKU simplification will save costs.

Simplify Outdated Corporate Processes

In the HBR, where registration for full text is now required.  Yes, simplify is always good to consider.   " ... rebuilding your processes from the ground up with a focus on simplicity is a powerful way to improve your competitiveness and energize your staff. Netflix, for example, eliminated all the administrative labor and financial expense that went into managing paid time-off. As described in Patty McCord’s recent HBR article, the company got rid of the standard policies and tracking system and instead simply relied on employees’ judgment: ...  " 

Mapping Simplicity

Good overview of John Maeda's book

Mind Mapping and Design Thinking ...
In his excellent book "Laws of Simplicity" John Maeda, president of the Rhode Island School of Design, identified 10 laws for balancing simplicity and complexity in business, technology and design. Here are the 10 laws .... " 

Have always been a proponent of simplicity and minimalist models.  Mind mapping is always a good place to start.  Especially when you have to explain the structure of your findings to decision makers.

Nano satellites Powered by a Smartphone

In CWorld:   I like the modular simplicity.  " .... Fleet of CubeSat nanosatellites now orbiting earth, sending back data CubeSats built by NASA and various colleges lifted off Nov. 19 on a U.S. Air Force Minotaur 1 rocket ... NASA's CubeSat, called PhoneSat 2.4, is powered by a Nexus S smarthone and uses a solar array to keep it charged. Engineers are hoping it can stay working in orbit for at least two years. Part of its mission is to find out how long it can remain active and send data back to earth. ,,, " 

App Stores for the Defense Enterprise

Enterprises are looking for ways to ride the ease of use and simplicity of task partitioning and integration in App stores.   Even the US Department of Defense.