Sorry folks, there has been a last minute decision to cancel the VAN Summit and Keynote, due to lack of enrollment. Todd will be in LA to meet, greet, and talk about ECGridOS, the future of commerce API’s, and partnerships. Please call me if you need info 412-353-9269. But wait, it is not all bad:
Todd will be at the X12 Trimester meeting, so find him or let me help you coordinate a meeting. 412-353-9269
But save the date for 10/15/09 NEECOM.org big user group and ecommerce trade show. The best of its kind. In Massachusetts!
Both Todd and I will be at the NEECOM,org user group meeting. A very active vendor constituency will be there, so call Neecom and get in. The location is at a very reasonably priced hotel outside of Boston…yes, I know, its no Wilshire Grand or Paramount on Telegraph Ave., but its cheap and the company is hip. Loren Data is sure to be hosting an “after the event Chinese buffet for Vendors to recover from the ordeal, everyone is invited including attendees, guests, any NEECOM connected folks. Keep your eye on this blog for time and place as we firm up the precise place.
Far more important is that the message remains the same; the outreach letter that I wrote for the X12 VAN Summit applies every bit as much for the upcoming shows, and for all time – the mid market, the SME, and simpler commerce communications services will be delivered via Web Services API’s (WS and REST) and hosted applications will be an important channel for these granular, consumable services. My original message from the VAN Summit is reproduced after the jump:
For those who might enjoy the most far looking prognostication of what cloud platforms, API’s, and mid market sector influences in e-commerce might look like to me, the following link is to the draft of a white paper that was to accompany the VAN Summit Keynote – enjoy here –
The evolution of the private network plus services model for delivering B2B commerce is an important chapter in the technical evolution of value added services. Some of the most august companies in the e-commerce network sector predate the internet era, and are key players in this golden age of connected trade. The last twenty years has also seen an explosion in open systems, and new ways to communicate. The Internet has fundamentally changed commerce communications forever; messages in any format are routed regardless of originating and terminating providers, mirroring a result that occurred in the world of telephony.
Commerce networks are no different, and are facing similar market pressures that the X12 VAN Summit will be addressing in the upcoming meeting. For Value Added Networks and providers of similar B2B communications, there are recognized legacy relationships cultured by industry affinity that have evolved a set of truly impressive integration services and professional expertise. However, the industry has been invested in a dated messaging model. The analyst community is watching the development of new commerce ventures in on-line accounting and mid-market SaaS and PaaS based services – a market that will outstrip revenue growth in the existing industrial and commercial EDI sector. Many of these innovative companies are acquiring new users in the tens of millions, with operational tenures measured in one or two years. This is innovation’s payoff.
There are opportunities to profit in this new sector. In addition to competing directly in the mid-market, there are partnerships, conveyance of tools and technology, and OEM licensing to newly established operators. Strategy is the key to success. In order to thrive in this emerging sector, respected institutions representing B2B industry commerce should examine the adoption of open routing, best practices of interconnection, and an all peers trading model. The creation of a rich palate of standardized services by all members and partners increases the opportunity for even more value added services in more markets.
