Redchester is the new capital of Switzerland
I may get berned at the steak by Swiss federalists for spouting hearsay, but I've heard some stories that I must share.
Those clever Swiss folks learned long ago that being neutral can have considerable political and economic benefits. Why choose sides when you can carve out a profitable niche in the middle?
This lesson can be equally well learned and applied to making IT decisions. I often find organisations defining themselves as an AS/400 or a .NET shop as though these are mutually exclusive identities. It's true that Rochester and Redmond are at almost opposite sides of the country, but their technology stacks can come together to form a happy place that I have christened Redchester.
Redchester - a happy place
Redchester is a place where teamwork produces better results than solo endeavor. In plain English, it's where the power of IBM's midrange systems meets the personal productivity benefits of Microsoft's product suite. In Redchester data flows freely but securely between systems so that each citizen always has the information they need where and when they need it.
The best news of all is that Redchester is not a fictional place, although, I confess, it is not the new capital of Switzerland. Recently I came across a couple of real-life customer stories that brought the benefits of unifying the IBM and Microsoft stacks into sharp focus for me. Continue reading “Redchester is the new capital of Switzerland” »
The State of Global Data Synchronization
My introduction into Global Data Synchronization started in 2002 as an IT manager for an early adopter of Global Data Synchronization Network (GDSN) standards in the Consumer Packaged Goods (CPG) industry. At the time, CPG companies were the only sector actively synchronizing item data in the United States. Since then, GDSN adoption has expanded to many other sectors with the latest entrants being Food Service and Healthcare. (If you are new to GDSN, check out our Jargon Buster page.)
LANSA folks at U Connect 2010
I’ve just returned from a very busy, well attended U Connect 2010 conference held in San Antonio where this increased activity was evident.
As GS1 US celebrated their 10th year for the conference, it was obvious that there were a lot of new companies in attendance. It was exciting to see how the momentum has picked-up for the GDSN initiative and how the standards are being adopted by more and more companies as a better way of doing business. There are now more than 5 million GTINs (unique trade items) in the GDSN network, exchanged between 92 countries! (Find the latest stats by opening this PDF version of the GS1 Global Registry Statistics report.)
The LANSA team met throughout the week with companies at all stages of adopting Data Synchronization methods and tools. We have many customers that have been using the standards for a number of years that are looking to expand the use of attributes, increase the use of integration with their ERP and/or PIM (Product Information Management) systems and increase the number of trading partners they exchange item data with. For the newer entrants, they are learning from the companies that have come before and are looking for integrated, smart solutions right out of the gate so they get the most value for their investments.
Continue reading “The State of Global Data Synchronization” »