Convener operations

Convener as ambassador

The Transparent Supply Convener recruits member organizations to join its novel, supply chain ecosystem for the tangible business value that it provides to all members. The Convener's initial task is to fully understand and explain the benefits of bringing supply chain partners together in a customized, industry-specific Transparent Supply environment. It must be able to clearly describe and advocate for the ecosystem goals and present the clear path to achieve those goals.

The Convener continually seeks input and feedback from existing and candidate members of the ecosystem. It must regularly evaluate the tangible results that are achieved by members to ensure that the stated goals are being met and the business value maximized.

Convener as the IT expert

The Convener is the ecosystem frontrunner in understanding blockchain technology and how Blockchain Transparent Supply capabilities can bring to bear the intended business value for all members.

The Convener determines how members can benefit from the built-in applications and features. It collaborates with members to determine whether extending the base functionality or developing new applications is needed, and allocates the required resources.

The Convener facilitates the onboarding of member organizations. It educates and supports each member organization in uploading essential supply chain data that both meets Transparent Supply requirements and integrates with data that is uploaded by other members.

The Convener provides all levels of IT support to all member organizations. For any custom applications not part of the base solution, the Convener provides all technical support and documentation. For issues related to base Transparent Supply applications and features, or ecosystem performance and availability, the Convener identifies the cause and if applicable, contacts IBM for Convener support.

Convener as owner operator

The Convener owns and operates the overall Transparent Supply ecosystem, including monitoring member activity, as described in the following sections.

Account setup for members

The Convener sets up an account and provides authenticated access for each new member organization. This task includes collecting and adding information such as company name, GS1 company prefix, and administrator identities.

The Organizations component is provided for the Convener to add and manage organizations, including suspending or deleting members if necessary. For more information about managing member organizations, see Managing organizations.

Application management

The Convener manages the ecosystem according to evolving member use cases. The Convener designs and approves the development of new applications as needed to support the goals of the ecosystem.

Activity reports and logging

The production Availability Status page is provided as part of the Transparent Supply commercial offering. This status page allows the Convener to view the production availability status of operational systems at any point in time.