Incisive columnist and IT expert Colin Beveridge looks at a hot
issue of the day.The solution to a management problem often lies in
the clear definition of the situation, and supply chain management
is no exception - the keyword in this case being chain.
All of our IT services depend on the proper alignment of a chain of
critical success factors to create effective delivery. Any
interruption within the supply chain, or misalignment of any
components can cause serious disruption or loss of service.
The aim of every service delivery manager is to keep his supply
chain running smoothly and efficiently, by making sure that
friction and costs are kept under control at all times.
But, we must remember that with any service we are managing a chain
(or, actually, a matrix of chains) rather than a single entity. The
strength of the chain derives not only from the quality of the
individual links, but also from the quality of the mutual support
between neighbouring links throughout the chain.
We need to understand the dynamics of each supply chain properly or
we could find that a weakness in one place may manifest itself
elsewhere in the chain, despite the apparently intrinsic strength
of the relationships in the area that eventually suffers from the
failure.
This means that it is pretty pointless investing a great deal of
our time and effort in forging strong links with our immediate
neighbours in the supply chain, because a similar degree of
integrity will need to be applied throughout the chain, together
with a transparent mechanism for recognising symptoms of stress
anywhere in the chain.
For example, we may be delighted with our principal outsourcing
partner, but our continued happiness depends, in turn, on our
partner's ability to depend on their suppliers - and so on - down
the supply chain.
Sometimes even the slightest hiccup upstream can quickly cause a
serious seizure downstream. The trick is to see the problem in time
and to manage it effectively at the earliest opportunity - before
it has a chance to grow exponentially.
The only real way that we can all tackle this problem is to have
full visibility of our supply chain dependencies - and I mean full
visibility of the relationships throughout the chain - not just a
series of cast-iron, one-to-one contracts between supplier and
customer but also genuine process integration.
After all, a single point of responsibility may be very nice to
have, but it can just as easily become a single point of failure -
the anathema of IT service delivery.
So, please examine all of your own supply chains regularly to make
sure that they have not been compromised somewhere down the line.
Your partners should welcome your concern for the general
well-being of the chain.
If necessary, take a lead from Anne Robinson and ask the simple
question: "Who is the weakest link?"
What is your view?
Can you see all the links in your supply chain?
Tell us in an e-mail >>CW360.com
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Read CW360.com's Special Report on Supplier Relationship
Management >>Colin Beveridge is an interim executive who
has held top-level roles in IT strategy, development services and
support. His travels along the blue-chip highway have taken him to
a clutch of leading corporations, including Shell, BP, ICI, DHL and
Powergen