According to the ARC Advisory Group, the supply chain management market grew 7% in the last five years. That growth would have been more if it had not been for the recession.

In comparison, the SaaS market grew at a compound annual growth rate of 20% during those same five years.

According to ARC, the overall SCM market includes “execution, production, warehouse, and transportation management — as well as Supply Chain Planning — strategic, manufacturing, and inventory planning.”

Sponsor

This seems hardly a surprise if you look at the landscape for what really is working out there. Hint: It’s not Excel spreadsheets. What is emerging is a social supply chain that can leverage the best technology available.

Outsourcing Supply Chain Management says many companies run Excel or QuickBooks which require manual updating. Others run sophisticated businesses through legacy systems that are difficult to update, much less move data around.

ARC says SaaS services have enjoyed a presence in the transportation markets but only in recent years has that really become apparent. On-premise software, as in most sectors, has traditionally dominated this part of the market.

Why? The existing supply chain is really a post-war phenomena. It grew out of the shift in demographics that happened after World War II. Highways, bridges and big trucks all have a significant place in our economy and our culture. They are directly related to the distribution centers, those hubs like Swan Island here in North Portland which fills up with trucks every night before heading back out on I-5 to destinations all over the United States.

As the supply chain evolved, advancements in IT provided efficiencies that allowed for management of huge amounts of goods being delivered to increasingly sophisticated retail establishments.

The trucks themselves have become pretty sophisticated. They can be tracked by satellite. But the costs to run software that tracks these trucks is as expensive as any enterprise technology in any sector of the market.

SaaS allows for affordable transportation systems.

From the XCD Logistics blog:

“Not only can customer orders be converted instantly into optimized shipments, but the system stores and retrieves costs for all modes and types of movements, performing carrier selection, best rate, and most efficient routing based on shipment size and destination.”

.

The companies in the SaaS space for supply chain management face the hurdles that any SaaS provider does across any sector of the market.

Jim Burleigh is the CEO of SmartTurn. He is a a former Salesforce.com executive.

His company provides on-demand inventory and warehouse management services. The biggest problem he faces is the skepticism from companies across the supply chain who believe the costs will be prohibitive. These are people who are conditioned to paying $50,000 or more for enterprise systems.

From Outsourcing Supply Chain Management:

” ‘A good warehouse management system (WMS) is prohibitive for these businesses. It would cost $40,000-$50,000 in license fees and another $40,000 for implementation and infrastructure. “So they have locked in their mind that the entry-level price to solve their problem is $50,000-$150,000,” Burleigh says. “They don’t know that they can solve their problems for $500 a month. ‘ “

Discuss

We’re always on the lookout for upcoming Web tech events from around world. Know of something taking place that should appear here? Let us know in the comments below or contact us.

You can import individual events in the Events Guide into Google Calendar using the link beside each entry, or download the entire thing as an iCal file (which is importable into Google Calendar, Outlook, Windows Live Calendar, etc.) or even view it as a world map.

Sponsor

---

---

31 July 2010: San Francisco

Tomorrow’s Web San Francisco

Tomorrow’s Web aims to bring young people together to learn from each other and provide unique real life networking opportunities. Each conference has a strong lineup of keynote speakers, as well as expert panels and workshops.

Tomorrow’s Web San Francisco is being held at Kicklabs, 250 Brannan Street, San Francisco. Kicklabs is San Francisco’s home to the best and the brightest startups in the business; a perfect venue to hold the first US Tomorrow’s Web Conference. Key speakers at Tomorrow’s Web 2010 San Francisco include Abby Laporte (Abby’s Road), Daniel Brusilovsky (Teens in Tech), Brian Wong (Follow Formation) and Chris Leydon (TinyGrab).

Tickets for attendance for both Tomorrow’s Web 2010 San Francisco and London, are now available for purchase and booking.

---

7 August 2010: London

Tomorrow’s Web London

Tomorrow’s Web aims to bring young people together to learn from each other and provide unique real life networking opportunities. Each conference has a strong lineup of keynote speakers, as well as expert panels and workshops.

Tomorrow’s Web London will take place on August 7th 2010 and is being held at the Park Crescent Conference Centre, 229 Great Portland Street, London, W1W 5PN. Park Crescent Conference Centre is located right in the heart of London’s buzzing tech scene, overlooking the magnificent Regents Park; an easily accessible venue. Key speakers at Tomorrow’s Web 2010 London include Christian Owens (Branchr), James Gill (GoSquared), Josh Buckley (MiniMonsters) and Jonathan Grubin (MiniG Media Ltd).

Tickets for attendance for both Tomorrow’s Web 2010 San Francisco and London, are now available for purchase and booking.

---

24 August 2010: New York City

FundingPost Summer Venture and Angel Event

FundingPost has hosted 165-plus sold-out venture events in 19 cities over the past 9 years. At our next NY event, the panel of investors will focus on Early-Stage Venture Investing: How to meet investors, pitch them, and what it really takes to get them to write you a check!

We will be discussing trends in Early-Stage Investing, hot sectors, sectors that these Angels and VCs look at, things that are most important to them when they are considering an Investment, the best and worst things an entrepreneur can do to get their attention, additional advice for entrepreneurs, and, of course, the best ways to reach these and other Investors. There will be plenty of time for networking with the Investor panelists, both before the panel & after the panel at the Cocktail Party! Register here.

---

31 August 2010: Sydney, Australia

Real World Mobile

AIMIA and VentureOne are delighted to announce the Real World Mobile event to be held in Sydney on Tuesday 31st August. And on Day Two, we present a series of case studies - extended in length and coverage. Key topics will be covered with the emphasis on how mobile transforms:
location and commerce; social networking; TV/video and games; customer experience - real world voice of the consumer; advertising and marketing including search & measurement; apps and augmented reality

Included in the program is a live panel of consumers, facilitated by Oliver Weidlich, Mobile Experience. Don’t miss the opportunity to question them: What is their experience of their mobile/s - how do they interact with content, apps, advertising and brands on mobile? What do they like and dislike? What are the real issues they have? What will they respond to in the future? Register here.

---

13 - 14 September 2010: Sydney, Australia

Open Source Software Pacific-Asia Conference

OSSPAC is focused on helping enterprises of all sizes - businesses and government - learn how open source software can be used to reduce costs and increase efficiency in a scalable, reliable, and cost-effective way. Even though it provides plenty of technical sessions, the main audience for OSSPAC is IT managers, project leads, and executive management who are looking at leveraging open source in their organizations. We’re offering over 30 sessions on
topics ranging from Cloud Computing to the Economics of Open Source. For more information, please visit www.osspac.com.

---

16 - 17 September 2010: Boston

Security Forum Forum 2010

As the global economy recovers in 2010, Security & Risk professionals must continue to balance tactical and technical responsibilities with the long-term strategic objectives of the business. To achieve this goal, you must aspire to transform your security organization from a reactive silo of technical security expertise to a proactive information risk management team. You must also adopt the same objectives and measures of success as the business.
This year’s Security Forum Forum 2010 will focus on: 1) evaluating the maturity and effectiveness of the security organization; 2) laying out a road map for architectural optimization and innovation; and 3) ensuring that the right skills, incentives, and metrics are in place for the long-term success of the security program.
Key questions that this forum will answer:

• How do you measure the maturity and the effectiveness of the security and risk management practice and build a road map for the future?
• How do you build a data security architecture to protect information no matter who has it and where it rests?
• How can you apply enterprise risk management disciplines to information security?
• How do you embed security throughout the network, not just on the perimeter?

Register here.

---

22 - 23 September 2010: Singapore

Social Media World Forum Asia

Social Media World Forum Asia is back for 2010. The event will be taking place at the larger venue - The Suntec Conference Centre - before the F1 Singapore night race. Two days of interactive and engaging conference featuring leading key figure keynotes, brand case studies, topical Q&A and debates, exhibition hall, workshops and networking. Speakers include:

Blake Chandlee, VP & Commercial Director, EMEA, Facebook

Nicki Kenyon, Vice President, Digital Marketing APMEA, MasterCard

Reynold D’Silva, Global Brand Marketing Manager, Unilever

Pooja Arora, Brand Manager, P&G

Thomas Crampton, Asia-Pacific Director, 360 Digital Influence, Ogilvy Public Relations Worldwide

Lito S. German, Marketing Director, BMW Group Asia

Ranjeet-Shandu Singh, Digital Project Manager, Ogilvy One Singapore

Derek Yeo, Head of Marketing, Tiger Airways

---

23 September, 2010: San Francisco, California

Think Mobile

Think Mobile, produced by Mediabistro, SocialTimes, and AllFacebook, is a one-day conference that explores the broadening mobile ecosystem, marketing opportunities, and the innovation that drives the industry. Mobile business leaders will discuss monetizing content, apps, advertising, and more, as well as best practices for developing and monetizing location services, targeted content, and augmented reality. Speakers include Starbucks CIO Stephen GIllett, Heart Magazines Digital Media Executive Director Kimberly Lau, Microsoft Sr. Product Manager Anand Iyer, Evernote CEO Phil Libin, Nielsen Global SVP of Mobile Media & Marketing Kanishka Agarwal, and more. Save 15% with discount code TMRWW.

---

24 September, 2010: San Francisco

Smartphone Games Summit

The Smartphone Games Summit is a single day conference produced by Charles Hudson and mediabistro.com, focused on the emerging smartphone games space. As new developments emerge such as the iPhone Game Center, is it game over for a number of gaming companies, or does it open an even larger opportunity? How do newer technologies like the iPad change the game? The conference will bring together leading developers, investors, and executives from around the globe to share their collective wisdom on what’s working today and where this exciting industry is heading. The Smartphone Games Summit will touch on a number of key trends, including international trends in smartphone games, engaging smartphone game design, lessons from leaders, mobile social games, keys to successful monetization, and building and executing a successful distribution strategy. Save 15% with discount code SPRWW.

---

29 - 30 September 2010: New York City

Location-Based Marketing Summit

Location-Based Marketing Summit is the leading event for Fortune 1000 companies seeking to maximize marketing, commerce and business strategies using location-based services. Attendees receive focused, practical and valuable industry insight that can be immediately utilized in developing a location-based strategy.
We give you an inside look at the location based marketing activities of major brands. Hear from companies who’ve made the journey and learn from their experiments and activities. Location-Based Marketing Summit helps you cut through the hype and separate buzz from success. Speakers include VaynerMedia, New Jersey Nets, Tasti D-lite, Deep Focus, Adweek, Where.com, Yelp, SimpleGeo, Geodelic, and more.
Use our special ReadWriteWeb promo code RWWVIP to save an extra $100 off registration.

---

5 October 2010: New York City

FinovateFall

FinovateFall will return to Manhattan on Tuesday, October 5 to showcase dozens of the biggest and most innovative new ideas in financial and banking technology from established leaders and hot young companies. The Fall event is the original and largest Finovate and features a single day packed with our special blend of short, fast-paced onstage demos (no slides are allowed) and intimate networking time with top executives from the innovative demoing companies.

FinovateFall is a unique chance to see the future of finance and banking before your competition and find the edge you need in today’s market. Early bird registration rates are available.

---

7 - 8 October 2010: Washington, D.C.

Business Process And Application Delivery Forum 2010

As an Application Development & Delivery or Business Process professional, your efforts not only serve the business but also empower your business to succeed despite rapid change. But every day brings faster-changing business dynamics. Business Process And Application Delivery Forum 2010 will arm you with the knowledge, insight, and practices you need to meet demanding expectations from your CEOs, COOs, CxOs, agency heads, and directors and deliver the kind of breakthrough and sustainable business value you know your organization must achieve.
Application Development & Delivery professionals will learn to:

• Transform delivery organizations. See how organizations apply Lean and Agile to rethink how they align with and deliver against current and anticipated business strategies and demands.
• Drive innovation. Learn how to improve delivery flow and drive software innovation to bring greater business differentiation and higher customer and constituent satisfaction.
• Thrive in a dynamic business and technology world. Identify new practices and technologies that organizations use to design, deliver, and measure breakthrough and sustainable business value.

Business Process professionals will learn to:

• Drive business process management into the organization. See how organizations embrace business process management (BPM) to deliver sustainable business value.
• Empower employees to make change. Learn what skills, disciplines, and technologies organizations utilize to accelerate innovation and change.
• Differentiate customer and constituent service experiences. Discover how organizations put the customer first to design and deliver breakthrough customer service and support processes.

Register here.

---

7 - 8 October 2010: Washington, D.C.

Content & Collaboration Forum 2010

Today, the people in your organization have unprecedented expectations for driving better, faster business outcomes using content and collaboration technologies. Harnessing the trends that underlie those expectations in order to drive real business outcomes — like revenue growth, reduced operating expense, and improved return on assets — requires IT to assume a new leadership position. On top of building engaging Web experiences to drive revenue and reduce service costs, Content & Collaboration (CC) Professionals must optimize portal, search, collaboration, and eDiscovery strategies that enhance employee productivity while mitigating risks. CC professionals require a new set of skills to address the culture, process, and technology changes amid this groundswell of business technology expectations.
To capitalize on these changes, CC professionals at the Content & Collaboration Forum 2010 will learn to:

• Engage customers across emerging channels. Learn how empowered employees can better serve customers using social, cloud, mobile, and video technologies.
• Innovate by harnessing the power of collaboration. See how leading organizations are using organizational models, tool sets, and new skills to accelerate innovation with collaboration platforms and tools like social networks.
• Accelerate your strategy while balancing risk and return. Learn to optimize processes and tools like enterprise content management, eDiscovery, search, and intranet portals to mitigate risks and maximize information discovery, use, and re-use.

Register here.

---

18 October 2010: Washington D.C.

Digital East 2010

DE10 will feature over 50 leading industry speakers addressing best practices on topics including Social Media, Online Advertising, E-commerce, Cloud Computing, Web Analytics, Search, Email and more. When registering, use the code RWW50m for 20% off.

---

25 - 27 October 2010: Beijing

The China Mega-Forum for Entrepreneurship & Innovation

China Entrepreneurs presents The China Mega-Forum for Entrepreneurship & Innovation. Gathering more than 1000 professionals over the course of three days, this forum will place attendees at the heart of the entrepreneurial ecosystem in China. Joined by more than 400 elite high growth ventures, 200 prominent investment firms, and 60 premier-level speakers, attendees will be immersed into a full schedule of high-level content and unparalleled networking. Highlights include:

• High-level Panel Sessions on important topics encompassing China’s Entrepreneurial Ecosystem
• The Morning Market, giving firms the opportunity to showcase their businesses
• Over 20 unique entrepreneurship workshops
• Gala Dinner and Award Ceremony for the CE Entrepreneurship Ecosystem Awards
• Over 45 investor presentations and one-on-one meetings with VC’s, PE’s and Angel Investors

For further information, visit www.chinamegaforum.com.

---

28 - 29 October 2010: Chicago

Consumer Forum 2010

More than 10 years ago, just a few industries scrambled to cope with new Web-based, consumer-empowering tools like comparison shopping engines and direct banks. Now it’s Twitter, YouTube, and foursquare. These tools have put more power in the hands of individuals than ever before.
Whether you are running an online-only firm or one business unit of a global firm, Forrester’s Consumer Forum 2010 will provide specific answers to the critical issues of consumer change and empowerment that are confronting all consumer-facing companies today. The time to unleash your employees and transform your company is now, and this event will showcase ideas, best practices, and case studies to help you do it. As an exciting addition to this year’s Consumer Forum, we’ll be featuring content and ideas from Forrester’s new book, Empowered: Unleash Your Employees, Energize Your Customers, and Transform Your Business, by Josh Bernoff and Ted Schadler, slated for release just weeks before the event.
Key questions this forum will answer:

• How has the rise of empowered consumers changed customer relationships with B2C firms?
• What kinds of leaders do you need at your firm that can help unleash employees to solve customer problems?
• Which firms have best tapped into the creativity of employees to serve empowered consumers?
• How are consumers using their mobile devices for product research and decisions?
• What is the role of social media in engaging customers across channels?
• What impact will pervasive video and connectivity have on customers?
• What new opportunities exist for firms to connect with empowered consumers?
• How do firms create metrics and incentives that measure and promote employee empowerment?
• What new organizational models best empower employees to serve customers?

Register here.

---

2 November: London

Mobile Cloud Computing World Forum

Mobile Cloud Computing World Forum will provide a full perspective of mobile cloud computing and SaaS from business value through integration and implementation and to the emergent trends in the industry. Get the scoop on the latest products, meet with clients and drum up new business with valuable leads. Meet some of the best known mobile cloud computing and SaaS professionals in person and exchange your experiences.

Show Highlights include:

• 1 day conference and exhibition on Enterprise Mobile Cloud Computing and Enterprise Apps
• Hear from leading case studies on how they have integrated mobile into their working practices
• Learn from the key players offering Mobile products and services
• Benefit from our pre-show online meeting planner
• Network in our combined exhibition and catering area
• Evening networking party for all attendees

To book now or for more information visit www.mobilecloudcomputingforum.com.

---

9 - 10 November, 2010: Chicago

Forrester’s Sourcing & Vendor Management Forum

Unprecedented changes are under way in how business identifies, sources, and manages the technologies that drive innovation, growth, and competitive advantage. SVM pros must embrace a new set of skills and commit to getting ahead of technology and market innovations to ensure that their organizations achieve business value from these changes. This Forum will arm you with the knowledge, insight, and practices that you need to:

• Empower the business. Learn how to empower employees and embrace self-provisioned technologies like SaaS and social media.
• Drive innovation. Explore how to take your firm to the next level of innovation through next-generation vendor governance models like multisourcing.
• Sustain competitive advantage. See how leading organizations continue to drive increased value from their suppliers through new service delivery models.

For additional details please see: http://www.forrester.com/sourcingforum

---

17-18 November 2010: Lausanne & Geneva, Switzerland

Cloud and ICT 2.0 Summit

The European Tech Tour Association is launching its newest vertical event with its inaugural Cloud & ICT 2.0 Summit, the Catalyst of the Cloud Computing Industry in Europe. Its focus is on celebrating entrepreneurship and innovation in Europe and on raising global awareness for the top 25+ European start-up companies in the cloud computing field that are making their mark in the industry.

The Cloud ICT & 2.0 Summit is interested in European Cloud Computing companies with the potential to become global leaders in their market. The deadline for company applications is September 3, 2010. Register here now.

---

29 - 30 March 2011: London

Social Media World Forum Europe

Social Media World Forum Europe: Two days of interactive & engaging conference featuring leading key figure keynotes, brand case studies, topical Q&A and debates, exhibition hall, workshops and networking.

Social Media World Forum Europe is continuing to evolve and deliver an event which is second to none, ensuring our audience receive the maximum potential from attending our shows. New for 2011 we have introduced interactive panel discussions, live streamed debate sessions, collaborative learning, break-out group discussions, open Q&A portions in every session, open workshops, with group discussions and interactive zones within the exhibition hall. We have introduced the Online Marketing Toolbox Workshops, educating in all elements of the online marketing mix, such as SEO, Paid Search, Affiliate, Mobile & Apps. The perfect toolbox to complete your online marketing strategy.

---

Download this entire events calendar in iCal format.

Discuss

Eszter Hargittai and dana boyd just published a new article in First Monday entitled: “Facebook privacy settings: Who cares?”

Facebook Privacy Settings: Who Cares?

“Abstract: With over 500 million users, the decisions that Facebook makes about its privacy settings have the potential to influence many people. While its changes in this domain have often prompted privacy advocates and news media to critique the company, Facebook has continued to attract more users to its service. This raises a question about whether or not Facebook’s changes in privacy approaches matter and, if so, to whom. This paper examines the attitudes and practices of a cohort of 18– and 19–year–olds surveyed in 2009 and again in 2010 about Facebook’s privacy settings. Our results challenge widespread assumptions that youth do not care about and are not engaged with navigating privacy. We find that, while not universal, modifications to privacy settings have increased during a year in which Facebook’s approach to privacy was hotly contested. We also find that both frequency and type of Facebook use as well as Internet skill are correlated with making modifications to privacy settings. In contrast, we observe few gender differences in how young adults approach their Facebook privacy settings, which is notable given that gender differences exist in so many other domains online. We discuss the possible reasons for our findings and their implications.”

ReadWriteWeb has a good summary of the article to:

Study: Youth Not Only Care About Facebook Privacy, They Do Something About It

Stephen

A future view from Jeff Koterba:

Stephen

Gary at ResourceShelf pointed to this study:

OverDrive Publishes White Paper: “How eBook Catalogs at Public Libraries Drive Publishers’ Book Sales and Profits”

Access Full Text Paper (8 pages; PDF)

“OverDrive has produced a white paper on the impact of eBook lending on publishers’ sales and profits. Data presented in this white paper will demonstrate the ability of public libraries to drive sales of print and digital content, with particular emphasis on the following points:

+ Unfulfilled demand
+ Increased revenue
+ Copyright holder retains control
+ Promotion
+ Discoverability”

This echoes the arguments that free MP3 files on the web drive sales of CD’s and songs on iTunes. I think that this could be true of books too.

Lots of stuff to add to the conversation about e-books.

Stephen

Here’s the main chart from OCLC’s WebJunction survey of librarians’ use of e-tools:

Library Staff Report Their Use of Online Tools

You must read the whole postings (it’s not long but there are differences in the usage of some tools by type of library).

Lastly, I have to echo OCLC’s Roy Tennant’s concerns in his Library Journal post:

An Industry In Search of Failure

Stephen

The quality of library videos is going up lately. The bar is being raised.

Check out this one from New Hanover County Library:

The Masters of Library Science Croquet Tournament

Awesome. And even without the video aspect this looks like a great competitive event in the library for teens, seniors or even a staff day!

Stephen

Readers were in the mood for maps this week because they pushed this story about a must-see video of Microsoft’s Street Slide into the most-viewed category. We also continued our exploration of the significant Internet trends of 2010: Internet of Things sensors are chicken; golfers get a hands-on augmented reality experience; and these are the data-sucking mobile Droids you’re looking for. Read on for more.

Sponsor

Top Stories of the Week

• A Must-See Video of Microsoft’s Street Slide, Better Than Google Street View
• StumbleUpon: The Silent Social Media Success Story
• Analysis: What are the Web’s Top Sources of Referral Traffic?
• Wikileaks Releases 91,000 Afghanistan War Documents Online
• So-Called “Digital Natives” Not Media Savvy, New Study Shows

More coverage and analysis from ReadWriteWeb

The Future of the Cloud: Our Newest Research Report - Free

We’re delighted to announce ReadWriteWeb’s fourth premium report, The Future of the Cloud: Cloud Platform APIs are the Business of Cloud Computing. Thanks to the generosity of our partners VMWare and Intel, we’re providing this report at no cost to you. The Future of the Cloud highlights cloud computing’s impact on IT organizations, and explores both its disruptive nature and the new markets and opportunities it’s creating. It also covers the impact of the transition on IT organizations in areas such as security, data, the new fundamentals of service provision, network architecture and the need to make the cloud part of a long-term systems and technology strategic plan. For more information or to download the report, visit here.

Augmented Reality

• Hands On with Golfscape AR Rangefinder for iPhone
• Social Experiences Growing Popular Among Mobile AR Usage

More Augmented Reality coverage

Internet of Things

• A Sensor In Every Chicken: Cisco Bets on the Internet of Things

More Internet of Things coverage

Mobile Web

• Check In While Checking Out: CardStar Adds Foursquare Integration
• Verizon Smartphones (Droids?) Use More Data than iPhones
• Tests Confirm “Death Grip” Unique to iPhone 4, Consulting Firm Says

More Mobile Web coverage

Check Out The ReadWriteWeb iPhone App

We recently launched the official ReadWriteWeb iPhone app. As well as enabling you to read ReadWriteWeb while on the go or lying on the couch, we’ve made it easy to share ReadWriteWeb posts directly from your iPhone, on Twitter and Facebook. You can also follow the RWW team on Twitter, directly from the app. We invite you to download it now from iTunes.

ReadWriteStart

Our channel ReadWriteStart, sponsored by Microsoft BizSpark, is dedicated to profiling startups and entrepreneurs.

• Training Your Brain to Increase Productivity
• Maybe Your Customers Don’t Want to Talk to You
• What To Do When You Launch: Before, During, and After

ReadWriteCloud

Our channel ReadWriteCloud, sponsored by VMware and Intel, is dedicated to Virtualization and Cloud Computing.

• SaaS Lessons Learned
• When Does CRM Become a Collaboration Service?
• SaaS Market Grows Spectacularly to the Detriment of the IT Kings

ReadWriteEnterprise

Our channel ReadWriteEnterprise is devoted to enterprise 2.0 and using social software inside organizations.

• RIM Buys BlackPad.com, Readies New BlackBerry Slider - But Can It Still Compete?
• Augment Reality for the Enterprise - SAP Employee Unveils Prototype
• Android Spyware: Millions Downloaded Thievish Wallpaper App (Updated)

ReadWriteBiz

Our channel ReadWriteBiz is a resource and guide for small to medium businesses.

• How to Create a Web Content Strategy For Your Company
• 5 Critical Web Metrics To Keep a Close Eye On
• 3 Promising Digital Business Card Solutions

Enjoy your weekend everyone.

Subscribe to the Weekly Wrap-up

You can subscribe to the Weekly Wrap-up by RSS or by email below.

RWW Weekly Wrap-up Email Subscription form:

Discuss

	Posted marianliz: “It is not your turn in any of your active games” = sign that you are not playing enough games #onlinescrabbleaddict #felloffthewagon.
	@kgs there are a lot of books in worldcat #oclcleaks [shifted]
	Posted ALA_TechSource: RT: GameStop Acquires Social Gaming Site Kongregate http://tcrn.ch/aLWAq8.
	Posted michaelreuter: Town Plans Foursquare ‘Foxhunt’ http://yigg.it/8wvdm @yigg.
	Posted digiphile: “Too much sunlight creates skin cancer”-@zephoria. What are the unintended consequences of publicy? http://j.mp/cgtJsy #sn10.
	RT @anildash: Could we use check-in data to make places more accessible via “Ability Maps”? http://2.dashes.com/9R1daE [shifted]
	Posted wawoodworth: The machine is starting to turn for #alaprom at next year’s annual. =D.
	Posted wawoodworth: @shinyinfo That’s a good one! We’ll see what we can do..
	Posted Rick_Bayless: To win a signed copy of my new cookbook Fiesta at Rick’s, enter r Twitter recipe photo contest. Details here: http://bit.ly/a5RCmK.
	Posted jenniferwaller: RT @radar: An audacious and practical goal for augmented reality: @aallan wants to put names to faces. http://oreil.ly/9eqG6j.
	Posted alice_daer: Nerd heaven: Daft Punk’s Tron Legacy soundtrack leaked: http://is.gd/dTf3m (via @halavais).
	Posted SocialTimes: New blog post: Project: MyWorld is the “Placebook” for a New Generation of Social Gamers http://mbist.ro/ctEGIX.
	@thearystocrat you still remind me of the man, but my fav remains C K Dexter Haven. Oh, C K Dexter Haaaaavvvvvveeeennn! [shifted]

Share:

No tags for this post.

It should be any entrepreneur’s dream come true. But for some startups, a sudden, overnight explosion in growth can nearly bring the operation to its knees.

Such was the recent experience of Blank Label, a Web-based company that sells custom-made, user-designed dress shirts for men. After launching in October 2009, Blank Label enjoyed some modest initial success, selling a few hundred shirts in the first few months of business.

Sponsor

The online buzz generated by the startup’s unique service was enough to capture the attention of The New York Times and other prominent media outlets, whose positive coverage in mid-May quickly sent a flood of new customers to their site. Immediately following the press coverage, Blank Label’s Web traffic increased by about 4,000% overnight, and conversion rates nearly tripled.

For a brick-and-mortar store, a sudden influx of customers can result in long lines. Online, it can cause servers to go down.

The team knew there was a problem when they started receiving emails from would-be customers asking when their website was going to go back up, according to Danny Wong, co-founder and lead evangelist for Blank Label.

“There were massive problems with the site,” says Wong. “First images wouldn’t load, then pages stopped loading.”

They tried rebooting their web server, but found that the problems only accelerated. A few hours later, they moved their website to bigger, more capable server space.

The technical issues were only the beginning of the headaches.

Before long, it became apparent that the supplier they had hired to produce the shirts was unable to keep up with the sudden demand, despite assurances to the contrary. Orders started shipping late, sometimes with defects. Within a week of the initial influx, Blank Label switched suppliers.

A new payment processor was in order as well, because the one they had been working with was alarmed at the sudden and dramatic increase of orders and decided to end their relationship.

In addition to website stability and production issues, the company’s owners found that customer service was becoming too much to handle. To keep up with the requests, the company had no choice but to hire three customer support staff members, as well as outsource some technical work via oDesk.

Chocri

Another co-creation startup that experienced growing pains is a company specializing in custom-made chocolate bars called Chocri. For them, the scalability issues have been seasonal, as demand for co-created chocolate has typically peaked during the winter holiday season, causing Chocri to sell out of inventory two Christmases in a row. The overwhelming demand has required CEO Carmen Magar to make a number of changes, including expansion of staff, moving into a larger space and reassessing the company’s production practices.

When they first started out, Chocri would produce the milk chocolate, dark chocolate and white chocolate candy bars separately and then recombine orders. “That’s crazy when you make 50,000 bars a month,” says Magar. “So now we make all types at the same time.”

Today, things are mostly back on track at Blank Label and Chocri, although there is still a two-week delay on new orders at Blank Label.

“I always feel like there’s more work to be done,” says Wong, adding that his company is working on further streamlining the ordering process and hoping to speed up shipping times.

If he could offer any advice to budding entrepreneurs and small businesses, Wong says it would be to ensure upfront that technical infrastructure and production resources are prepared for potentially rapid growth.

When all was said and done, Wong’s company had hired four new people, and switched suppliers, servers and payment processors in order to cope with their sudden success.

These days, all it takes is a mention in a few high-traffic news outlets or some social media buzz to bring tens of thousands of people to your company’s door. As some entrepreneurs have learned the hard way, it quite literally pays to be prepared.

Disclosure: Danny Wong of Blank Label has written guest posts for ReadWriteWeb in the past.

Discuss