Mid-sized SCE Buys Small SCP: No Sure Bet on Short Term Profits
Michael Bittner - September 1, 2005

Introduction

With much aplomb, leading supply chain execution (SCE) vendor Manhattan Associates has recently announced the acquisition of Evant, a relatively small supply chain planning (SCP) vendor primarily for the retail and wholesale distribution sectors. Those who follow software vendor consolidation have recently witnessed Oracle purchasing ProfitLogic and then Retek, thwarting the attempts of SAP. Arguably these two mega-ERP vendors, with deep bench strength on product integration, are in a better position to deal with the trials and tribulations of a software company acquisition. For a mid-sized software vendor like Manhattan Associates, who is predominantly characterized in the supply chain execution space, acquiring a supply chain planning vendor is a considerably more rarified event...