Month: June 2007

Just as humans go through mid-life crises from time to time, so do blogs – at least I am convinced! This blog could sit in the centre of everything I do with respect to professional life (i.e. excluding family life). I only came to this realisation yesterday (it should have been obvious, I know) after conversations with PhilB and AnishK. So I spent last night and tonight changing the theme of the blog. The work is not yet complete, but I am pleased with the outcome so far – I know it can be further improved. It took me a considerable amount…

Andrew Bartolini of Aberdeen Group and I had a phone conversation on past Monday to discuss UK and global trends in EIPP (Electronic Invoice Presentment and Payment). If you do not know, Aberdeen Group regularly carries out research in to number of subjects including sourcing, e-payables and supply chain finance to name a few. Their reports are normally sponsored by number of vendors, and vendors such as Xign, OB10 and Ariba regularly brief Aberdeen Group and other research companies such Forrester about their new products and solutions, market strategies and successes. Given that Aberdeen Group is based in the USA…

September 18 – 19, 2007 ·  Crown Plaza, Brussels, Belgium Why is that this event and ExPP Summit are held one week apart? Do the organisers not realise that they are splitting the audience in half? This always happens with mini events, but should not be the case for large European annual events. Or is this intentional? Competition is a good thing, but this, I am not so sure. There is not much valuable information available on the site at present, except that this year’s event will feature over 30 leading P2P case studies including contributions from Hertz Group, Dixons, EDF Energy and…

A very tired Sam Sethi and I had couple of pints at his local last night and discussed the forthcoming release of blognation. I now have a much more appreciation for the revenue generation capability of blognation. Managing approximately 100 blogers or so will be no mean feat. A lot of well know bloggers across the world will be part of blognation. Wow! Cannot wait for the eventual launch! In the meantime, have a look at the Company Index, which includes under "e", edocr, enterprise ventures (Ed French) and etribes (Simon Grice). Chris, apologies mate, there was only three slots…

Another event on e-invoicing is taking place week after next in Germany. This is significantly over priced, and I am wondering to whom it is aimed at. According to the site, the target audience works (one assumes) in Accounts Payable, Accounts Receivable, Finance, Financial Accounting, Financial Services, Billing, Invoice Management, eComerce, eBusiness, Procurement, purchase, Sourcing, Shared Services, Document Management, IT, Processes and Controls.  What it does not say is whether it is aimed at customers (if so, CxOs or middle management) and/or suppliers. I cannot find any information about EIPP suppliers who are attending the event. Just like the case…

Just a quick note to say that I am looking forward to attending this event in London on 10th & 11th September 2007. If you plan to attend, please also register here (upcoming.org) so that we could engage in a conversation leading to the event. Please note that this is not the official registration site. The official site can be found here. Please feel free to discuss any aspects of this event including the EIPP market through this blog. I am very much looking forward this event, which is the premium e-invoicing/EIPP event of the year in Europe. References: ExPP…

For a minute, think about France, Spain or Germany vs. United States of America. Individually, any  European country is no match for the USA, when it comes to trade negotiations. But jointly they are almost an equal, if not a stronger player. Apply the same analogy to the hub alliance, which is currently made up of 5 companies, these being: Causeway Technologies’ Tradex (UK), Burns e-Commerce (UK), Asite (UK), CertiPost (Belgium) and Liaison Technologies (USA). Two other established European players are making positive enquiries to join the alliance. Everyone agrees that the alliance is a positive move, perhaps except for…

A mixture of pre-funded, raw start-ups and well-known hot web companies will be presenting at Essential Web 2007. The confirmed line-up so far includes: The Todeka Project, Trampoline Systems, WAYN, we7, Yuuguu, Zubka, Huddle, Jaiku, Louder Voice, ParkAtMyHouse, Shozu, Spotify, Alertme.com, cebase, Comeks, ConnectMeAnywhere, Extate, G.ho.st, Garlik The current confirmed line-up of speakers and panelists includes the following: Daniel Applequist, Senior Technology Strategist at Vodafone, founder of Mobile Monday in London Nic Brisbourne, VC, Esprit Capital Partners, blogger The Equity Kicker Adrian Critchlow, founder of Active Hotels, now building new web company, alertme.com Saul Klein, formerly VP, Marketing at Skype…

One of my intentions without advertising has been to somehow combine NW StartUp 2.0 events with the presence of an EIPP specialist, where that specialist has a synergy with the theme of the event, which is entrepreneurship, funding and deal making. In the past, speakers included: 1st event – me 2nd event – Rhys And now, Alain Falys for the third event. Looking at the registrations to date, we have following individuals, who run EIPP hubs/solutions attending this event: Accountis – Founder & CEO Causeway Technologies (Tradex) – Founder & CEO OB 10 – Co-Founder & ex-CEO/Chairman (this is Alain)…

Trade Services Supplement – May 07 published by IBS Publishing questions Can banks get their act together to offer new services that are aligned to the needs of corporates, large and small, or will specialists emerge to fill the gap? In response, It looks as though the part of the supply chain that needs the most help is the small supplier, squeezed by ever longer payment terms from the buyers and struggling with cash flow issues as a result, with their problems perhaps worsened by capital constraints because of Basel II and high factoring rates. However, these are the hardest…