1. How Clear Is Our Crystal Ball
BY JOHN MOORE DECEMBER 20, 2001 ARC INSIGHTS 2001-054E
Keywords:
ATP, CTP, SCP, Logistics, Components, E-Markets, ISMs, TEAM, ERP, Por-
tals
Issue:
At the beginning of the year, ARC’s team of supply chain and enterprise
analysts collectively contributed to making ten predictions for the coming
year. How well did we do? Our predictions were surprisingly close to the
mark in a tumultuous year.
Summary:
The beginning of the year saw a slowdown in many of the world’s econo-
mies, which continues today. While there were faint signs of a recovery at
the end of summer, the tragic events of September 11th, dashed such hopes.
Virtually all software suppliers interviewed by ARC
In a year where many predictions saw a drastic decline in sales during September, which
by pundits belong in the trashcan,
has only recently begun to let-up.
ARC’s analysts did surprisingly well
in predicting the future..
Our overall prediction that there will be little let-up in
the adoption of software technologies did not hold-up
under the weight of an increasingly tough economy. Companies of all sizes
began to closely scrutinize their software purchases, demanding suppliers
to show some real ROI for their solution offerings. In many cases, compa-
nies have simply postponed purchases till the economy improves. We have
also seen a dramatic pull-back from large, expansive, multi-million dollar
deals with implementations that can extend for over a year in favor of
much smaller, tighter and quicker implementations that deliver quick pay-
back. The following is an assessment of the predictions we made for 2001.
We will publish an accompanying Insight at the beginning of the year with
our predictions in 2002.
ENTERPRISE & AUTOMATION STRATEGIES FOR INDUSTRY EXECUTIVES