Taking care of supply

A recurring theme for modern business is adaptability. The ability to explo it resources, skills and market position in new ways to increase returns on investment is paramount. Large companies in particular need to understand their internal and external supply chains to identify and evaluate new oppo rtunities. BT has a history of developing and supplying all the services re quired by its end customers: but the world is changing rapidly. new types o f players are emerging and BT now supplies its many services to many differ ent types of customer - service providers, resellers and peers as well as e nd customers. There needs to be a way of understanding the implications of the different forms of customer/supplier relationship on the design and imp lementation of BT's systems. This paper presents a new set of patterns for businesses and their supply r elationship These patterns can be used to examine supply chains and the pap er illustrates holt these different supply relationships place different re quirements on the operational support systems. Such patterns will be core t o a flexible strategy within high performing, adaptable businesses.