Holy guacamole, Facebook (FB) may have finally shot itself in the foot. What was it thinking when it paid about $2 billion for virtual reality company Oculus VR. The announcement inspired disappointment among gamers, led to the cancellation of a deal with the game developer of Minecraft and confused many as to what Facebook planned to do with the company.

Why doesn't Mark Zuckerberg and company go after a really worthwhile enterprise like privately-held GT Nexus? Now there's a company that fills a big niche in the world of supply-chain management using the cloud, instead of Oculus which is like trying to buy "cloud 9".

GT Nexus, Inc. provides a cloud-based supply chain collaboration platform for retailers, manufacturers, exporters, importers, logistics providers, and banks. The company offers GT Nexus Trade, which facilitates the commercial trade process among buyers, sellers, and banks from purchase orders to payment; and FGT Nexus Logistics that execute logistics processes between importers, suppliers, carriers, and third party logistics from shipping orders to cargo receipt at final destination.

It also provides Cloud Tools, a multi-enterprise trade network administration solution that allows authorized participants to independently manage their interactions with other companies on the GT Nexus cloud platform. The company has strategic alliances with Chainalytics LLC; Kinaxis Inc.; Exlservice Holdings, Inc.; and WNS (Holdings) Ltd. GT Nexus, Inc. was formerly known as Tradiant, Inc. and changed its name to GT Nexus, Inc. on April 2, 2001. The company was founded in 1998 and is based in Oakland, California.

Recently I had the pleasure of interviewing the Founder and Vice Chairman of GT Nexus, Kurt Cavano, I realized that his company is demonstrating every day why "the cloud" can be used for the most practical functions for every company on the planet that transacts virtually any kind of business.

Tracking everything from financial transactions to helping businesses stay connected with all their suppliers simultaneously is just the tip of the iceberg on what this company's technologies are all about.

Today, GT Nexus is the developer and operator of the largest cloud supply chain platform of its kind, with over $100 billion in goods managed annually and over 25,000 active trading organizations across all major industries. Their clients read like "The Who's Who" of big businesses from Visa (symbol V) to Electrolux (symbol ELUXF) to Swiss powerhouse Nestle.

With on-tap data integrations in place to global transportation carriers controlling 90% of worldwide capacity, and strategic go-to-market relationships with five of the top ten global third party logistics providers (3PLs), GT Nexus is also the largest, most complete and active global logistics provider network in the world.

Oh, did I mention their iconic customers include Pfizer (PFE), Caterpillar (CAT),Hewlett-Packard (HPQ) plus Procter & Gamble (PG)?  As I interviewed Cavano I heard him say, "We are the Facebook (FB) for global trade", and the more I've learned about GT Nexus the more I realized that this 15-year old, privately-held company compares nicely to that description.

Too bad the company isn't publicly-traded yet. But in the world of Initial Public Offerings (IPO) timing is a critical component, and GT Nexus is a master of good timing for its cloud-based services and the awareness of its diversified client base.

There's no rush for this company to go public, and by the time they've updated to the very latest protocols and cloud-based capacities it may be worth twice what it could fetch in the IPO market today, in my opinion.

"We're about quickly and simply keeping suppliers and customers connected and real-time updated on a very flexible level, Cavano explained. If either suppliers or customers want to know where their products or money happens to be at any given moment, GT Nexus can help them answer the questions:

"Where's is my money?" and "Where's my stuff?" In today's world the consumer wants instant answers, instant service, and immediate results. "That what we strive to provide in the most reliable ways which saves our clients money and preserves their relationships with their customers worldwide" Cavano clarifed.

He went on to explain that his company provides "that matrix of complexities" that saves time, money and headaches for corporate executives and the heads of supply-chain management. "With our services we're solving problems BEFORE they arise while we help our clients reduce their costs of goods and services" he included.

If GT Nexus succeeds than so will all of its clients, and if those clients do well than GT Nexus ends up building the kind of enduring relationships that get richer and deeper. "We are lucky", the co-Founder told me, "because we have fans, not just customers".

Corporate Leaders choose GT Nexus for three fundamental reasons:

• A Superior Technology Platform—a single multi-tenant cloud platform designed for inter-company process automation on a global scale
• A Large and Active Community—the largest direct supply chain trading partner and service provider community on a single network instance
• The Fusion of Financial and Physical Supply Chain Capabilities—to link the two key engines of commerce in a single place

"We believe the future belongs to networked companies", Cavano asserted. "Most companies still operate as single, siloed organizations, disconnected in fundamental ways from their partner networks" he continued.

"We’ve got the technology platform, the capabilities, and the experts worldwide to help companies navigate from single-silo insular organizations to globally connected agile business networks. We’re proven." Or as the famous line from the movie Oh Brother Where Art Thou? might have put it, "They're bonified.!"

To learn more about this amazing business and the company that big corporations can't seem to live without, go to its user-friendly, thoughtfully designed website. Watch the video on the "About" page under the sub-heading "What Drives Our Success".

GT Nexus is a stellar example of why the cloud is fast becoming inseparable with online connectivity and mobile communications in the most practical, intricate and vital applications. It knocked my socks off to learn about what it does, and you'll be better aware of what's happening in the world of supply-chain management after you've kicked their tires.

You can learn more about GT Nexus by also reading this well-written description of the company by Bloomberg BusinessWeek which fills in some of the pieces to the body of this technologically amazing company.