A couple of days ago, JDA closed its acquisition of i2, completing a supply chain vendor roll-up of two of the most valuable technology assets in the planning business: i2 and Manugistics. Back in the crazy B2B marketplace/exchange era, no one would have thought this possible: JDA, an enterprise software company that had a particular strength in retail at the time, was barely on the broader supply chain map, especially in relation to i2, who many viewed as the gorilla of the market. Now, JDA owns two of the most valuable assets in the market. Now, I don’t follow this market like I used to, but back when I was at FreeMarkets, I was part of the crazy team that dreamed up the acquisition of Adexa, which at the time was a next-generation competitor to i2. (In retrospect, this deal, had it closed, would not have been the best move, but hey; it was a different time, one where such a thought was not as boneheaded as Ariba buying SupplierMarket or trying to buy Agile, or i2 spending billions on Aspect development.)
Flash forward a few years: nearly everything about the supply chain market has changed. Buyers are smarter — and less willing to take chances with unproven planning systems (look at Nike). SAP and Oracle have caught up to some degree in core areas, but not in service parts, multi-echelon planning, and other narrowly focused areas. So where does this leave JDA (and its soon-to-be-digested i2 morsel)? Some of the best commentary on the deal I’ve seen comes courtesy of Supply Chain Matters. Guy Courtin, who used to work at i2, recently penned a guest column for Bob Ferrari in which he shares his thoughts on the transaction and what it means for suppy chain…
