Outsourcing B2B: What is B2B Managed Services?

B2B managed services is business-to-business outsourcing solutions that provide the expertise, technical infrastructure, and program and process support to deliver a robust B2B e-commerce solution. Managed services enable a business to interact more effectively with trading partners and to achieve business objectives.

An effective B2B managed services solution should provide:

Technology—the comprehensive infrastructure needed to exchange B2B transactions with partners, translate business documents between any of the many B2B e-commerce standards now in use, and provide reporting and visibility into B2B processes and networks. This infrastructure should include:
- a global B2B infrastructure that spans every major economic region in the world;
- on-demand B2B data translation and delivery; and
- B2B business process management and activity monitoring
Processes—best-practice processes for implementing or extending the use of B2B e-commerce in an organization, managing a B2B program on an ongoing basis, and quickly and easily bringing new trading partners onto a B2B network. The processes should include:
- business process expertise;
- rapid solution implementation and short time-to-value; and
- global trading community management
People—skilled people with both technical and business expertise who can support and deliver a B2B program that meets current and future business objectives. These include:
- dedicated experienced B2B project managers;
- B2B technology and standards experts; and
- 24x7 local-language support

More than 60% of companies have outsourced some part of their supply chain operations, either globally or domestically. This figure includes B2B e-commerce solutions, which the Yankee Group¹ has identified as ideal for outsourcing in the supply chain because of the extremely complex combination of technology, people, and processes required to execute a successful global B2B program. Not only has the number and complexity of B2B standards, protocols, and technologies increased, but the need to coordinate cross-enterprise business transactions and processes adds additional layers of complexity—including time, language, legal, currency, and customs differences.

Although B2B e-commerce is a strategic function, touching many areas of the business—from procurement to order processing to delivery and payment—the steps involved in sharing data are similar, no matter which area of the business is to be enabled with B2B e-commerce. These steps can also be clearly identified and managed as a service to users within the business. Leveraging a managed services solution usually offers a lower-risk approach to investment, while still providing the resources and skills needed to deploy B2B solutions that many organizations cannot justify employing in-house.

In addition, while many companies trade internationally, few have local operations in all the countries where they have trading partners. This makes it hard for them to support trading partners in those territories. A global B2B supplier can provide support in areas where a company lacks reach. For many companies, the question they need to ask themselves is not "Should we outsource our B2B solutions?" but "Can we afford not to outsource our B2B solutions?"

Huang, Kosin, Jason Corsello, and Matt Del Percio. "B2B Managed Services Help Companies Expand Footprints and Trading Network." Yankee Group Decision Note Trend Analysis June 28, 2005.