GXS Insights

Strategy and Execution

7. Conclusions and Recommendations

Main Findings:

  • Pan-European B2B trading holds much promise – but also has its complexities
  • Looking to outside B2B service providers offers the capability to participate across Europe, yet concentrate on core competencies
  • Outsourced providers also offer cost effective means of identifying new suppliers and customers, while optimising revenue streams and cost structures over the value chain

The opportunities for organisations breaking out from a single country B2B approach to a Pan-European approach are manifold, and yet the issues are complex and overly expensive for individual organisations to effectively deal with.

The larger European trading bloc, particularly when viewed under the subset of the EU, provides a great opportunity for European organisations to source cheaper suppliers and identify more business customers. Issues can arise in identifying which of these customers and suppliers are trustworthy, and in dealing with language, local cultural issues and legal frameworks.

Quocirca recommends that organisations look towards an external provider to manage their B2B transaction capabilities in this space, making the most of the added value services that these providers can supply.

Further, Quocirca recommends that organisations see such providers as accelerating the move towards the automation of their value chains, recommending or mandating that their customer/supplier partners utilise such open systems to exchange necessary information.

Report Note
This article has been written independently by Quocirca Ltd to provide an overview of the issues facing organisations looking to participate in Pan-European B2B ecommerce. The report draws on Quocirca’s extensive knowledge of the technology and business arenas, and provides advice on the approach that organisations should take to create a more effective and efficient environment for future growth.

About the Author
Clive Longbottom is Service Director for Business Processes Facilitation at Quocirca, Ltd, which he founded in 2001. He has been an ITC analyst for over 10 years. Clive has worked with a range of large and small analyst companies, including META Group as VP Europe. His work was recognised in 2007 when he was elected as a Fellow of the Royal Society for the Promotion of the Arts, Commerce and Manufacturing (FRSA). As an internationally recognised expert in business and ITC, Clive's pragmatic approach concentrates on the provision of actionable advice, keeping away from "flavours of the month" and from the "cut and burn" approaches of many analysts.

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