Interview Supply Chain
fields, you can tweak it – but basically you switch it on and most of what you'll ever use already exists. That's not the case with our solutions because of the variability of the situations that we had to implement in; so our solutions are much more one-on-one implementations. This doesn’t result in customisations – every customer uses the same source code – but at the end of the day there's a lot that goes around it in terms of configurations and business rules etc. that result in very unique implementations.”
Therefore, explained Brewer, the classic Software as a Service model doesn't work for a business like JDA’s. However, the company’s response to the requirement of some customers to buy an application as a service is Managed Services. “This is because that's the tool by which JDA can deploy, if necessary, a unique configuration for every single customer, and do it in a scalable and efficient manner,” said Brewer. However, he added that JDA is keen to remain totally flexible to users’ requirements. “If our customers want to buy from us as a service then they can do that, if they want a classic behind-the-firewall implementation from us then we can provide that too – it's
www.logisticsit.com
very much up to the customer.”
Centre of gravity Brewer explained that, in addition to covering the raft of functionality requirements normally associated with Supply Chain Management solutions, JDA also covers areas that go outside of what many might consider to relate to the traditional supply chain; pricing for example. “Most people don't consider pricing is part of the supply chain, although my contention is that, ultimately, it is,” he said. “This is because there's a pretty close connection between how goods are priced and how goods move.” Nevertheless, broadly speaking the centre of gravity in JDA’s business today is in the area of Supply Chain Planning. Brewer explained that this is one of the three major segments of Supply Chain Management that the company focuses on; the other two being Supply Chain Execution and Procurement.
Five-year plan And, aside from the superset
March 2011
MANUFACTURING &LOGISTICS
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roadmap, what are JDA’s plans for the medium term? “We have a five-year plan to continue to grow organically and through acquisition,” explained Brewer. “i2 was our 11th acquisition in 12 years, and our plan is to continue to acquire target companies to build up a total solution offering for the SCM marketplace with a view to being the market leader in that space. Gartner believes it's a US$6 billion market, and we account for about 10 per cent of that market today. Things are looking good.”
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