Managing Automation - August 2008 - (Page 12)

FREE E-NEWSLETTERS SUBSRIBE NOW! news managingautomation.com maonline Go online for daily news updates in perspective committee to explore “strategic options,” a statement widely interpreted to mean that the company was more aggressively seeking a buyer. More recently, the company said that the committee was in ongoing discussions with “at least two other parties.” Chatterjee declined to discuss the nature of the strategic options being considered, and he said the notion that i2 is seeking a buyer is “an assumption.” There’s no question, however, that the settlement will give i2 some financial breathing space. “For a company that has been in a mode of turnaround and looking for potential growth opportunities, having [an additional] $83 million in cash on our balance sheet is huge,” Chatterjee said. “It reinforces to our customers that the strategy we are on is executable because we now have more than enough cash to make the moves we need to make.” i2’s strategy — something the company calls Supply Chain Management 2.0 — involves continuing to evolve i2 from primarily a provider of supply chain management software tools and Pallab Chatterjee technology to a provider first of supply chain management services, methodologies, and content, as well as software. “We are changing our sales execution from [selling] licenses first to [selling] service first,” Chatterjee said. “We used to be a tools company. We said, ‘Buy our software, and we will pull through implementation services.’ Now we say, ‘Let’s show results, then put in our software.’ ” To further that shift, i2 has introduced a set of methodologies and best practices that its consultants and partners can use to help customers create flexible supply chains in a matter of months rather than years, Chatterjee said. They include SCM methodologies, called Process Playbooks, and a set of workflows, called the Business Content Library, as well as an expanded consulting organization that includes experienced supply chain management experts. The strategy is beginning to show results. While i2’s software license revenue is down, overall bookings of $66.4 million in the company’s latest quarter were the highest in three years. — Jeff Moad Alliances, Executive Appointments, Mergers & Acquisitions, Products Transform your business through technology FREE Newsletters include: • MA Daily News Alert Hot off the press news exclusives written by MA Editorial • MA Membership Alert The latest industry research, products, news and web events Compete in the new global economy for years to come complexity of cobbling together multiple applications and spreadsheets,” said Mini Peiris, NetSuite’s vice president of marketing, in a statement. Huffman said NetSuite investigated simply partnering with other technology providers to deliver manufacturing-specific functionality to existing customers, but in the end determined that it made sense to offer the functionality directly. Meanwhile, the company has announced vertically customized products built by partner companies and based on the NetSuite for Manufacturers platform. Partners include product lifeMini Peiris cycle management provider Omnify Software, product configurator companies Configure One and SuiteCommerce, and B2B integration and EDI outsourcing service provider SPS Commerce. Approximately 50 customers are now using the first release of NetSuite for Manufacturers, Huffman said, and another 100 are experimenting with the technology. The new product is part of the company’s wholesale and distribution business, but “we are testing the waters and definitely will be adding more functionality in this area in the future,” Huffman said. — Diane Himes • Progressive Manufacturer • Viewpoint i2 CHIEF FOCUSES ON SERVICES PLAN espite widespread speculation to the contrary, the timing of i2 Technologies’ recent patent suit settlement with SAP was not intended primarily to clear a path for the company’s pursuit of what it has called “strategic options,” said CEO Pallab Chatterjee. Instead, Chatterjee said in a recent interview with Managing Automation, the settlement of the 2-year-old suit, which called for a payment of $83 million by SAP to i2, will help finance a new, services-driven strategic direction for the supply chain innovator. The settlement, Chatterjee said, “wasn’t necessary to clear a way for our search for strategic alternatives. I don’t see it as directly connected.” i2 in November 2007 said it had formed a Provocative and inspirational, features the opinion columns in print with exclusives online • NEW Lean Matters D Refreshing commentary on the pursuit of lean manufacturing Sign Up Today at: MANAGINGAUTOMATION.COM /NEWSLETTERS ® http://www.managingautomation.com http://www.managingautomation.com/newsletters http://www.managingautomation.com/newsletters http://www.managingautomation.com/newsletters http://www.managingautomation.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Managing Automation - August 2008

Managing Automation - August 2008 Contents Take 1 After 18 Months, the Oracle/SAP Suit Has Little Effect on Maintenance Sales At 100, Foxboro Reinvents Around Its Customers New Private Equity Firm Eyes Software A Software Suite Just for Manufacturers i2 Chief Focuses on Services Plan Notes It's Time for Action Examining U.S. Competitveness Leveling the Field An Unhealthy Situation Exploring Alternatives Math and Science: Key to the Future Product Scan Advertiser Index Next

Managing Automation - August 2008

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