The article you mention is a good reality check. Although it is dated about a year ago (Sept 2006) I suspect much of the content still holds true today. Not only does the article sing the praises of On Demand. Dig a little deeper into the article and there is Cox Enterprises waxing lyrical about how On Demand helped them save money via an e-auction. And the closing words are a recommendation that buyers need to be clear on their requirements etc, etc.

None of this is going to be particular new news to us practitioners who deliver these kinds of services day in and day out. But reality checks like this are important. Without them we are in danger of building ever more irrelevant complexity whilst forgetting that we still seem to be some way off from providing buyers with a genuinely convenient way of achieving savings.