I started this blog to share my experience in the areas of forecasting, demand planning and demand management. Some of the conversations will be technical – look for explorations of the best practices in demand forecasting and supply chain management. Some will be practical – useful examples of how our clients implemented value chain management solutions that demonstrably helped the bottom line. And some will be casual explorations of current events and how forecasting or demand planning may have impacted these events.

I will also regularly highlight why software and software companies must do a better job setting expectations and delivering measurable improvements to our clients. Too often, vendors over-promise and under-deliver. Unfortunately, by the time the under-delivering is understood, too much money, time, effort and ego have been expended to correct course and produce a positive benefit. And at that point, the software vendor doesn’t care all that much because they have been paid and the client has little or no recourse.

It is time for this dynamic to change – it must change. Software companies have got to be held responsible for quality products that deliver on their promises. It does no one any good when you spend $5 million to install SAP APO or Oracle’s Demantra and significant improvements are not delivered. And when they are not delivered, the companies should be held accountable.

Foresight intends to show how it should be done. We want the software industry to be known for delivering what is promised and, where possible, over-delivering. That is why Foresight is the only software vendor to offer clients a double guarantee.

1. We will deliver a 25% reduction in execution level forecasting measured on an absolute basis versus any competitor and/or against what your company is currently producing,

2. You will be satisfied that the software is working to your specification and expectations.

If either of these conditions are not met, you will get back all of the dollars invested in Foresight.

This ensures that we are focused on understanding your needs, your competitive pressures, and your expectations. You have a highly motivated partner for achieving the desired improvements in forecasting and demand planning.

From our point of view, you should demand this type of partnership with every software vendor. If you bought a piece of machinery that did not work, you could return it or demand that it was made to work correctly. You depend on that machinery to deliver value in the production line. Heck, even government has some expectation regarding performance (see: the introduction of lemon laws.) Why should software be any different? The answer is that it should not be – but it is up to you as the client to demand that software deliver and add value or be discarded.

You have our guarantee that Foresight will deliver value and will help you create your future profits. I look forward to sharing more about our forecasting and planning software with you, and welcome your feedback and suggestions.