Event Summary
A new alliance between Manhattan Associates and Intentia is aimed at complementing
ERP with warehouse and transportation management. The move follows a four month
collaboration in which the two vendors have combined development efforts to
integrate Manhattan's PkMS warehouse and transportation management system and
Intentia's enterprise application software Movex. The alliance will result in
application interfaces (API) geared for customers in the consumer goods, food
and beverage, and apparel businesses. For Manhattan, the new partnership joins
existing certified interface arrangements with Oracle and SAP.
Market
Impact
Stockholm-based Intentia has much to offer Manhattan as a partner. Though not
as large and well known as the ERP market leaders, Intentia's Movex is one of
the most comprehensive enterprise packages that also offers rich functionality
for specific industry verticals. Movex Food & Beverage and Movex Fashion have
features not addressed by more dominant vendors like SAP and JD Edwards (see
TEC Technology Research Note: "Intentia:
Java Evolution from AS/400" October 1st, 1999). Intentia can bring Manhattan
a much-needed indirect channel for distributing its PkMS software. Manhattan's
dependence on direct sales has contributed to its financial difficulties in
recent quarters (See TEC News Analysis article "New
Management at Manhattan Associates" October 19th, 1999). Also, the facilitated
integration capabilities afforded by a standard API gives Manhattan leverage
over other transportation and warehousing software vendors in software selections.
In addition, Intentia's installed base of 2,600 corporate licenses should aid
Manhattan in generating sales outside the U.S. Currently, over 95% of its revenues
are derived from North American sources. Similarly, Intentia gains a U.S. partner
that can help boost its sales and brand awareness in North America, a region
which accounts for only 8% of its total license revenues. A second benefit for
Intentia is the addition of a U.S.-based transportation package to complement
the European-centric functionality of its Movex suite.
User
Recommendations
Mid-sized U.S. companies with distribution-intensive requirements in the consumer
goods, food & beverage, and apparel industries who need enhanced warehouse or
transportation management capabilities along with enterprise applications should
include both PkMS and Movex on their short lists. Taken separately, each solution
offers a rich set of features in its area of focus. The integration potential
promised by the announced partnership has yet to be delivered or proven in the
field, but can reduce risk and save time during implementations as the API development
progresses.