IBM Software Group
White Paper
Contents
1 The need for analytics as B2B
volume and complexity grow
2 Analytics: The missing link in
B2B automation
3 The high cost of tactical
troubleshooting
4 From information to insights with
B2B analytics
6 Optimize B2B networks with
transaction and process analytics
7 The Smarter Commerce
approach to B2B analytics
Smarter Commerce
B2B Services Analytics:
Transforming the value
chain with data-driven
insights
Going from information to insights with
IBM B2B Services Reporting & Analytics
The need for analytics as B2B volume and
complexity grow
Analytics is emerging as a key differentiator for organizations to operate
a high-performing value chain across thousands of suppliers, partners
and customers at the speed and precision that todays markets demand.
The rise of data-driven B2B transaction automation is generating vast
volumes of information that can yield critical insights to reduce costs,
increase revenue and delight customers.
Yet organizations face manifold challenges in turning B2B transactional
information into insights. The sheer complexity of data in multiple
formats and protocols is daunting to both business and IT personnel.
In-house analytics infrastructure is costly and difficult to manage and
maintain. As a result, many organizations are in perpetual firefighting
mode, examining transactions and processes only when a problem
arisesand at significant cost in time, money and business interruption.
IBM Sterling B2B Services Reporting & Analytics offers breakthrough
capabilities for B2B network sponsors to apply analytics to electronic
transactions and processes. A cloud solution, IBMs offering is engineered
expressly to give organizations near real-time insights across the value
chain lifecycle, from purchase orders to transportation, receipt and
settlement, without the cost and complexity of in-house systems and
high IT overhead.
IBM Software Group
White Paper
As complexity deepens in increasingly digitized and global
B2B communities, analytics gives organizations new control
and visibility to:
Optimize value chain performance
Reduce cost, risk and manual work
Strengthen collaboration and innovation
Grow revenue and achieve strategic objectives
Deliver an exceptional customer experience
Analytics: The missing link
in B2B communities
Electronic B2B networks are indispensable to the modern
enterprise. Organizations are acutely aware that how effectively
they integrate with suppliers, partners and customers can make
or break their business success. In fact, 81 percent of business
managers rate B2B integration as either strategic to the business
or important to selected processes, according to a survey for
IBM by the research consultancy Vanson Bourne.1
Virtually every sizable organization has diligently utilized
technology to streamline transactions with trading partners while
striving to keep pace with rapid growth in B2B networks and
fast-changing standards. For many, this focus on transactional
processes has come at the expense of an analytics layer that could
enable greater visibility and exploration.
As a result, few enterprises have on-demand access to the detailed
aggregate information needed to understand B2B transactions
and processes at a macro level and easily drill down into the
detail to address issues. Or, they have on-premises licenses of
2
Smarter Commerce
analytics solutions that limit users and/or do not provide access
to all of the business users who require the information.
Without a capable and accessible analytics solution, enterprises
are limited in their ability to:
Monitor operations. Business and IT
managers are forced into reactive troubleshooting
without an overview of operational integrity and
automated notification of anomalies.
Spot trends. Organizations find it difficult to
detect changing patterns in purchasing or sales
activity that would enable them to swiftly adapt
as needed.
Identify opportunities. Too often,
organizations are unable to recognize opportunities
to speed processes, reduce costs or strengthen
trading partner relationships, diminishing what could
be a competitive edge.
Make informed business
decisions. Its not uncommon for B2B sponsor
organizations to make misinformed and sometimes
very costly business decisions simply because an
issue remained hidden in vast volumes of data.
As trading partner networks continue to grow, these weaknesses
stand to become more pronounced and erode an organizations
ability to compete effectively in fast-paced global markets.
IBM Software Group Smarter Commerce
White Paper

The high cost of tactical troubleshooting

Weaknesses in reporting and analytics in B2B environments Operational challenges in B2B integration
are complicated by heavy reliance on IT to support trading
partner networks. In many organizations, business managers We have to rely on other
disciplines to troubleshoot 46%
lack business-friendly tools to help manage trading partner and resolve issues
interactions. IT teams are heavily burdened with operational We have to enter data
tasks such as onboarding new partners and managing complex in multiple systems 32%
systems that depend on multiple data formats and protocols.
Too many manual
steps involved in our 31%
Reporting and analytics are frequently relegated to a lower processes
priority as B2B network managers deal with a ceaseless flow Takes too long to provide
of operational issues. When problems arise, IT and business a response back to the 26%
community member
managers are forced to quickly assess their importance and
Takes too long to
respond in an ad hoc, tactical manner. Manually sorting onboard a partner 26%
through transactional details to determine the root cause of
a problem consumes valuable time and can critically disrupt We have no visibility over
the end-to-end business 24%
business processes. process
We cannot adequately
Business managers cite reliance on IT to troubleshoot and secure the data being 7%
exchanged
resolve issues as the top operational challenge in B2B integration,
the Vanson Bourne survey for IBM found. (Figure 1). The
study also revealed a high degree of manual work in B2B
Figure 1: Reliance on IT to troubleshoot and resolve B2B integration issues
environments, from entering data in multiple systems to is the top operational challenge.
onboarding and dealing with partners, all of which diminish
capacity to build out a complex in-house reporting and With the right analytics solution embedded as an integral part
analytics system. of a B2B environment, business and IT have greater visibility
into transactions and processes to reduce the incidence of
unexpected events. Automated trigger-based alerts to problems
or exceptions enable proactive response and mitigation, while
higher-level visibility across end-to-end processes makes it
possible to identify and correct negative trends before they
impact the business.

3
IBM Software Group Smarter Commerce
White Paper

From information to insights

Video: Using alerts to manage exceptions with B2B analytics
IBM Sterling B2B Services Reporting & Analytics is available
as an add-on to three IBM solutions:

IBM Sterling B2B Collaboration Network, a cloud-based

B2B integration solution providing secure connectivity and
collaboration across trading partners
IBM Sterling B2B Integration Services (aka B2B Managed
Services), which builds on the network with IBM managed
services for B2B process management, trading partner
onboarding, partner support and more
IBM Sterling File Transfer Service, a cloud service for
file-based business interactions with trading partners

With IBM B2B Services Reporting & Analytics, supply chain

teams gain a near real-time view of transaction details of
suppliers, partners and customers to better monitor trading
Figure 2: See how to create alerts based on user-defined exceptions with
IBM B2B Services Reporting & Analytics. partner relationships. It delivers in-depth reporting capabilities
for complete visibility into B2B transactions. B2B Services
Some organizations have implemented an in-house data Analytics reflects trends in key B2B dynamics over a given
warehouse and reporting tools for B2B community analytics, timeframe through a visually rich interface and customizable
but these initiatives are frequently costly, inflexible, and dashboards. Automated alerting by user-defined thresholds
difficult to deploy, maintain and upgrade. Enterprises can face enables users to react swiftly to problems.
high costs for specialized IT personnel, business user training,
on-premises servers and backup systems, and the licensing of
database, reporting, data quality and data integration tools.
Video: The analytics cycle
Today, the cloud offers a viable and compelling model to
incorporate systematic analytics into B2B network adminis-
tration. The cloud-based IBM Sterling B2B Services Reporting
& Analytics offers a complete, non-invasive solution available
on demand, with minimal ongoing administration, automated
upgrades, and immediate setup that accelerates time to value.

Figure 3: Get an overview of the analytics cycle of reporting, alerting and

predicting future events.

4
IBM Software Group Smarter Commerce
White Paper

With B2B Services Reporting & Analytics, IBM is increasing
its investment and its commitment to help B2B sponsor
organizations excel amid escalating global complexity,
demand volatility and fast-changing trading partner and
market requirements. The solution utilizes IBM Cognos
reporting and analytics technology to enable enterprises to:
B2B analytics delivers a more vivid picture of the business and
the forces that affect it. Reporting on timely information enables
decision-makers to find their own answers without reliance on
IT, empowers all stakeholders to act with confidence and reveals
answers to questions that might not have been asked otherwise.

Analytics Cycle
Increase visibility. Benchmark
performance, detect errors, understand transaction Predict future events based Report on historic
volumes and patterns, receive automated alerts to on reported norms and activity and trends
anomalies and confirm trading partner compliance known exceptions Establish normal
with service-level agreements (SLAs). Change in activities parameters
expected when
Improve responsiveness. React exceptions occur
swiftly to errors or failures before they cascade t
into major problems, practice proactive transaction ic

d
Pre
management, identify opportunities to improve

Re
performance.

p or t
Reduce costs. Better manage resources Act
and time through increased knowledge on all
business partner transactions, improve planning
and forecasting to meet trading partner transaction
volumes. Aler
t
Optimize processes. Utilize data-driven
insights to improve business decision-making, Value is achieved when the Create alerts based on
adapt business processes and partner interactions information is made available deviation from the norm
so that action may occur Thresholds set by client
through visibility into patterns, including seasonal
Actions flow back into the data Manage the exceptions
trends.
and influence the next cycle
Strengthen collaboration and
innovation. Build a data-rich foundation
to work more closely and effectively with trading
partners, use insights to unleash innovations that Figure 4: IBMs solution covers the full analytics cycle of reporting,
alerting and prediction.
can benefit the entire B2B community.

B2B Services Analytics features

Visual reporting and analytics interface
Customizable dashboards with drill-down to detail
Interactive charts and graphs
Flexibility to set alert thresholds
Role-based permissions

5
IBM Software Group
White Paper
Optimize B2B networks with transaction
and process analytics
The initial release of IBM Sterling B2B Services Reporting &
Analytics focuses on transactional analytics, with reporting and
alerting on aggregated transaction in near real-time. Business
users can easily add reports to dashboards, set reporting filters
and choose visual formats (for instance, tables or bar, line,
pie charts).
Instead of manually matching purchase orders to shipment
notices, users can see at a glance the status of every shipment
related to a single purchase order. They also know if a PO has
been acknowledged or invoiced on one screen. Alert triggers
can be set and modified for automated notifications of, for
example, an unusually large order, missing shipment notices,
sharp transaction spikes or declines and more.
Video: Dashboards and reports
Figure 5: Learn now to create customized dashboards to monitor and report
on the B2B ecosystem.
As a use case example, a user may be notified of missing
shipment notifications from a key supplier of components
used in production. Based on the alert, the user might contact
the supplier to learn that a systems glitch had temporarily
halted outgoing shipment notices. The user would then be
assured that shipments are in route and that his company
faces no potential disruption to production.
6
Smarter Commerce
Going forward, IBM is incorporating process analytics
capabilities in the B2B Services Reporting & Analytics solution
for monitoring and measurement on such business processes as
procure to pay, order to cash, logistics and transportation, and
inventory management.
With process analytics, IBM links together all documents
across multiple parties to supply a consolidated view of process
flow. In procure to pay, for example, this may involve buyer,
seller, and banks. Rich reporting and analytics capabilities
enable users to assess such data points as:
Time between order receipt and payment
Average days from order placement to fulfillment
Document volumes or errors by hour, day, week, or month
Most active trading partners and document types
Average value of POs, shipments, invoices
Total value of POs over a given timeframe
As a use case, process analytics can enable a brand manager at
a large retailer responsible for avoiding stockouts to monitor
supplier performance in meeting delivery deadlines. IBMs
solution consolidates data such as when the retailer ordered
items and its requested time of shipment, and when items
were actually shipped and received.
Video: B2B process visibility
Figure 6: Explore how to monitor key business processes in the B2B
network such as deliveries, purchase order status and customer orders.
IBM Software Group
White Paper
With user-defined charts and tables, IBM Sterling B2B Services
Reporting & Analytics will show supplier performance over
specified timeframes to enable the retail brand manager to assess
SLA compliance and make adjustments as necessary. (Figure 7).
As the solution evolves, IBM will deliver an API that will enable
user organizations to upload transactional data from trading
partners outside the IBM B2B Cloud into IBM Sterling B2B
Reporting & Analytics. This powerful capability will give users
a single analytics solution covering their full B2B community,
including those trading partners that may not be covered by
the IBM network.
Figure 7: Track supplier shipment and delivery performance over
specified timeframes.
The Smarter Commerce approach
to B2B services analytics
IBM Sterling B2B Services Reporting & Analytics is an integral
part of IBMs Smarter Commerce portfolio of cloud-based and
on-premises solutions to enable an adaptive value chain, used
by more than 160,000 global businesses to manage the flow
of critical B2B information. Leading global corporations such
as Lenovo work with IBM to simplify and deepen their
trading partner collaboration.
7
Smarter Commerce
Using IBM Sterling B2B Integration Services, Lenovo built a
unified foundation to connect and collaborate across its partner
ecosystem as well as reduce the time it takes to onboard new
partners by 85 percent. By optimizing its supply chain with
IBM solutions, Lenovo ensures complete customer satisfaction
from purchase through fulfillment, invoicing and servicing.
Learn more about how IBM Sterling B2B Reporting & Analytics
can deliver the critical insights that organizations need to
optimize B2B community performance.
IBM Sterling B2B Services Reporting & Analytics
Our business depends upon more than
325 global trading partners to drive
innovation through the organization. By
implementing IBM solutions, we provide
Lenovos business leaders with a 360-degree
view across the ecosystem so they can
maximize the value that our partners
and suppliers bring to the company.
Chuck Igba
Director, B2B/EDI Strategy & Enablement
Lenovo
Resources
Read more about B2B Services Analytics:
ibm.com/software/products/en/sterling-b2b-services-
reporting-analytics?cm_sp=MTE29906
Watch more B2B Services Analytics videos:
ibm.com/software/commerce/b2b/b2b-integration/b2b-
services-analytics.html
 Copyright IBM Corporation 2014

IBM Corporation
Software Group
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Produced in the United States of America

December 2014

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1 IBM, Bridging the business/IT divide in B2B integration, May 2014.

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