Introduction: Cloud Systems in Demand—Supply Chains

There is no doubt that current advances in computing technologies have presented Supply Chain Management (SCM) with great opportunities for enhancing the competitive advantages of supply chain firms. Some of those opportunities have arisen as a direct result of the deployment of modern IT systems. The concept of the supply chain gained popularity in the early 1990s. The landmark year 1990 brought to the business community five important but highly significant concepts. The first was Business Process Reengineering (BPR), introduced by Hammer Champy (1991). Almost at the same time, Nonaka alerted us to the significant impact of not managing knowledge. Also in 1990, Senge brought to our attention the key competitive advantage of the concept of the learning organization. Two important technology developments also took place. These are the emergence of the Internet as a viable network that rivaled the then Value Added Networks (VAN), which were widely used. The key platform was the use of Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) technology, which was popular among most firms at the time. The Internet and its widespread application though the business community now dominates business and has penetrated almost all industries and commercial and non-commercial life. This to a surge in what was known as the Dot Com Economy of the 1990s. In addition, speed has become a major competitive objective for most companies. Indeed, many of the projects that passed through the BPR have delivered new types of organizations that are smaller in size but high in productivity. IT has played a major role. Some of the business units through restructuring and re-engineering were considered less value-adding and therefore became a target for outsourcing. The trend to outsource business units has led to a surge in the outsourcing industry, which we know identify as supply chains.