I think at one time I looked up some blogs from the other side of the fence…you know, the buyers. Professional buyers.
Well the announced closing of ThomasGlobal.com led me to a very readable purchasing/sourcing blog called SpendMatters. Jason Busch responded to this news by posting The Future of Supplier Directories and Supplier Search. Its a great review of the current status of directory services, which he groups into four categories.
“But is Thomas Global’s closing — and the general downsizing of Thomas over the years since the big green book — indicative of the beginning of the end of supplier directories (including online directories) or does it just signal a more general shift in the direction of the market? At this stage of my investigation, I’d probably argue the latter. And that’s because companies are now gaining access to supplier information primarily through four types of online directories and information sources.”
Be sure to read the comments for further discussion, thankfully without any borish anti-Thomas posters.