Better With A Network: A Research Initiative 22 Years In The Making

Introducing "Better With a Network," a research initiative focused on educating the market about the unique capabilities and benefits of Supply Chain Operating Networks.

Jun 25, 2025

It’s been 22 years since I wrote a post introducing a concept I called “Supply Chain Operating Networks.” Here’s how I define SCONs today, which is not too different from how I defined them in 2003:

SCONs are the business equivalent of Facebook and LinkedIn — that is, industry networks that connect shippers, carriers, manufacturers, suppliers, retailers, logistics service providers, and other trading partners with each other. Instead of companies creating hundreds or thousands of one-to-one connections with their trading partners, they make a single connection to the network where their current partners and thousands of other prospective partners are also connected. Companies use the cloud-based software applications that reside on the network to communicate, collaborate, and execute business processes with their trading partners in more efficient, scalable, and innovative ways.

It’s fair to say that relatively few people understood what I was talking about in 2003. Facebook and LinkedIn were just getting off the ground at the time, so even social networks were new and unfamiliar.

Over the past two decades, I’ve continued to write about the “power of network effects” in supply chain and logistics. I’ve even made the case that companies need to create a new C-level executive role — that is, appoint a Chief Network Effects Officer who views supply chain management through a “network effects” prism.

In short, educating the market on the role and benefits of what many in the industry now call “Multi-enterprise Collaboration Networks” or “Multi-enterprise Supply Chain Business Networks” has been a long journey, and the education process continues.

That is why I’m excited to announce a new research initiative called Better With A Network, which will focus on answering some basic questions:

Latest Indago Research Report: When Your Software Vendor Gets Acquired

Software vendor acquisitions are a regular part of the technology landscape (see recent WiseTech acquisition of e2open), but they can create uncertainty for the customers who rely on those applications every day. This survey was designed to understand how supply chain and logistics professionals feel and respond when a software vendor they use is acquired.

Download the Report

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