Business Network Improves Supply Chain Management

To help small and mid-size businesses automate and manage supply chains, Microsoft has launched the Microsoft Business Network (MBN). MBN combines on-site software and subscription-based, Microsoft-hosted Web services to help companies connect to their partners and exchange business documents, such as purchase orders and invoices. However, important features for some businesses will not appear until subsequent MBN releases: MBN 1.0 does not offer a browser-based interface for sending and receiving business documents, has limited integration with Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) systems, and offers direct enterprise resource planning (ERP) integration only with Microsoft Business Solutions’ Great Plains.

Because of these limitations, MBN 1.0 will likely be limited to larger customers: in particular, small suppliers could be reluctant to participate in the network before browser-based connectivity to MBN is available. However, if Microsoft can drive larger businesses, particularly manufacturers and retailers, to MBN, their smaller trading partners and suppliers may be forced to follow suit, particularly when these deferred features become available.