Month: August 2006

John W Mullins argues through "The New Business Road Test" that Markets consists of customers having the willingness and ability to buy products and/or services to satisfy wants and needs. Industries consists of sellers that offer products and/or services that are similar and close substitutes for one another. So, which markets does ebdex serve? We are sector independent. So which industries do we fall into? Primarily document exchange and secondarily EIPP. Tags: ebdex, EIPP, John W. Collins,  Document Exchange

In B2B, any business should be about resolving pain(s) suffered by customers in your target market sector. So what are some of the characteristics of ebdex’s target market, in terms of larger customers? Profit margins are under threat due to globalisation and other socio-economical factors including threats from new market entrants. Cost conscious and profitability driven: Always looking for ways to reduce operating costs and outsource non-value adding processes and functions. Suffers from high transaction costs due to outdated labour intensive paper based processes with multiple organisational layers. High transaction volumes due to the sector they operate in and business…

My vision is to truly create a company that puts customer loyalty above everything else. We can only begin to talk about customer loyalty after we achieve customer satisfaction. Let’s get this straight: loyal customers are those who continue to use the services you offer at a price that allows you to cover your costs and make a decent profit (after all, business is about wealth creation for all those involved). You know a customer is loyal when s/he renew the product/service contract or subscribe to new relevant products/services you bring to the market. Customer loyalty in my opinion is…

We are currently in the process of populating the ebdex Knowledge Base. We will begin registering clients on to ebdex Document Exchange, as soon as there is sufficient information within the knowledge base. For access to ebdex Knowledge Base (and interact with ebdex and other users of ebdex Document Exchange), please visit http://www.ebdex.co.uk/forum.html to register. For trialling ebdex Document Exchange, you need to complete the on-line registration form (now simplified after receipt of initial comments). Please note that ebdex Knowledge Base is only opened to clients who have registered for use of ebdex Document Exchange for exchange of structured documents with…

I was hoping that I and others would get to know a particular accountancy software vendor better through their corporate blog, which was launched few months back. The articles on recruitment published by their CEO was great! But they seem to be talking more about Microsoft Products than their own company and their own product portfolio. I for one would like to hear about their product road map, various technologies they are looking at (e.g. web services, SOA, etc), financials, what’s hot within the company, how great the company is, their growth strategies, etc (whatever they feel comfortable letting others…

Sam Sethi has just launched the UK version of TechCrunch. TechCrunch has been influential in promoting new start ups and is widely read by many who is interested in new technology. Sam speaks about VC and Angel market in UK (I have first hand experience in attempting to raise VC funding – my impression is that VCs are as risk averse as the bankers! I know there are differing viewpoints especially from the VCs): A number of people, including myself, recently got together to determine if there was something we could do to resolve the situation or at the very…

ebdex Consulting is now able to provide independent consultancy services, helping organisations select the most appropriate e-invoicing, EIPP or document exchange solutions. Typically, a consultancy project starts with identifying the key drivers and challenges faced by client organisation, how they interact with their trading partners in addition to understanding the current processes and practises. Depending on the requirements and budget, the project can be extended to include analysis of the competitive environment with respect to technology adaptation. ebdex is able to provide unbiased advise on type of solutions available in the market place, and recommend solutions for further consideration. ebdex…

We had a strategic review meeting today, at which the decision was taken to allow companies to trial the on-line version of ebdex Document Exchange. Currently limited functionality is enabled, but we came to the conclusion that customer feed back is essential for us to move forward, rather than hold back until all functionality is available. We hope you would take this opportunity to try it out. You are under no obligation to purchase or sign a contract except for agreeing to our simple terms and conditions of usage (yet to be published with private policy) and to allow us…

In my opinion, the ideal customer is a company that has following four key characteristics: Suffers from one or more pains (challenges!) that ebdex Document Exchange relieves (no need to convince). Has a shorter buying cycle (quick result). Has high transaction volume with low number of trading partners (high revenue potential). Uses an accounting or ERP system for which ebdex has already developed an interface driver (rapid implementation). Now what about my previous argument with serving the smallest of the small company? We have a solution for them, which is quick to implement – a start up and scalable solution…

Have you read Ariba’s recent white paper titled "Increase productivity, not paper: The power of EIPP to enhance Accounts Payable Savings and Costs"? If not, it is well worth a read. It proves the points we are making, which are well known by CFOs for 3 decades, yet little progress has been achieved. There was a clue in my last article about the the key difference, and in the white paper. Have you guessed it? Let me explain. Ariba, OB10 and many others speak about supplier networks and accounts payables more and very little about the suppliers and accounts receivable…