In an increasingly connected global environment, it will become easier for customers to choose between similar suppliers, thus increasing the pressure of profit margins on even the most successful companies. In order to address this more and more companies have moved from a pure "product sale" to incorporating services into their product offerings. Doing so allowed those companies to differentiate themselves, as service offerings are more difficult to compare.

However, with increasing globalization customers have access to information on companies world-wide, and are not restricted by physical presence. In order to compete in such an environment, companies need to provide not only excellent products and services, but what we at Accord Solutions call "Your Vision, Our Mission" to their customers. In order to achieve this, not only the product side has to be addressed (by delivering the right product at the right time to the right place at the right price), but also the personal relationship to the customer. Those companies that can form relationships with their customers by addressing their unique needs and individual requirements while cost-effectively managing the product delivery to such customers will be able to compete successfully in a global environment. To this extent the combination of an effective customer relationship process with a cost-competitive supply chain will become key to succeed in the 21st centuries' global economy. For medium and large-sized companies, this requires incorporation of automated SAP strategies into their business model, and to support the processes with the right IT tools to achieve global excellence.