GLOBAL TRADE MANAGEMENT
Mitigate Supply Chain Risk with
GTM Software
The global trade management software market is in constant flux, but the risk mitigation
benefits provided by the vendors are unmistakable. Vendors offer solutions across logistics,
compliance, and finance, and spending on GTM software remains one of the few bright spots
with 53 percent of respondents from our recent survey stating they are going to increase
spending on GTM.
—William McNeill, research analyst at AMR Research
s supply chains become more global and
more complex, the need for software and
services to help manage the process will continue to increase. Even when a supply chain is heavily out-
A
asking global trade professionals about global trade spending,
this level of enthusiasm is significant. Some of the main reasons cited for increasing spending included: improve coordination of GTM functions internally, meet government
sourced, companies need to maintain control with a layer of mandates, meet security requirements, protect the brand, and
visibility. GTM software can help manage the process and mit- control various costs.
igate the risk that comes with managing multiple logistics part-
This is happening in an environment where overall spend-
ners, filing the correct documents, and making sure money is ing on supply chain applications, and most enterprise applica-
flowing through the system correctly. Global supply chains are tions in general, is decreasing. AMR Research projects that the
typically longer than domestic supply chains—they have more overall market size for supply chain management will have
third-party touch points, use more transportation modes, and decreased 4 percent to 8 percent by the end of 2009.
have more documentation requirements. Each of these aspects
introduces additional risk. In the end, it doesn’t matter who
The Outlook
carries the goods or files the paperwork, the brand owner is It looks promising for GTM software and services. While the
ultimately held responsible.
GTM software landscape is in a state of constant evolution
In a recent survey of 160 global trade professionals, we because of mergers and acquisitions, buyers are showing a
found that 53 percent of respondents cited they would be growing confidence that current and emerging software solu-increasing their spending on global trade management soft- tions focused on integrating trading partners mitigates risk.
