Originally published at: FedEx Dataworks: A gem in the right hands - FreightWaves
The FedEx Dataworks unit provides deep insight into parcel shipping operations. The best value play is to sell it.
Both Satish and Fred are right about the information on the package being not that much less important to the customer than physically delivering on time.
Satish provides a comprehensive overview on DW. I think the key challenge is it may be a product desperately in search of a market.
I wonder if the right market research to identity what an out DW would be necessary to tap into the tons of latent demand required to be successful.
Or would the right answer have been to pursuing other initiatives that truly differentiate from Amazon, Walmart and UPS? (Note the order of those competitors.)
I commend FedEx for their out of the box thinking on DW. We did tons of things at Federal Express, including Fred’s ideas that were bad ideas, but we weren’t afraid to fail fast.
I am rooting for FedEx to find those breakthrough ideas again.
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Interesting. However, one key aspect is inaccurate: Sriram, Raj, and the broader leadership team have consistently driven a shipper-agnostic platform strategy, deliberately going multi-carrier. This is a necessity when the focus is also on pure digital revenue. And as with any network business, the whole can be greater than the sum of its parts, and - maybe, just maybe - keeping Dataworks as an integral part of FedEx may, at this time, be the stronger option.
S.M., appreciate the interesting feedback.