eBusiness vendor i2 has launched version 5.2 of its software suite.
Supply chain vendor i2 last week launched the latest upgrade of its software suite, version 5.2. In doing so it will hopefully stimulate some credible opposition to the end-to-end offerings of the major ERP (enterprise resource planning) players.
There is a danger in the current business climate that end-users with a ‘low risk’ IT investment outlook will sacrifice the potential advantages of ‘best-of-breed’ vendors for the integration advantages of installing applications from their existing ERP vendor. It’s hard to say whether this ‘better the devil you know’ approach will become widespread, but with many best of breed specialists no longer looking like the innovators they were three or four years ago, there is a strong chance that size and financial staying power will overshadow functional and technical excellence.
i2’s launch of an integrated, web-enabled set of applications should be seen as significant. If it can prove its worth as it did with its supply chain applications, then the launch should fuel and sustain the important but currently faltering competition between the best-of-breed eBusiness application vendors, and the major ERP vendors.
The primary strength of the new upgrade will be in its rich functionality and modular architecture, allowing users to build a cohesive and end-to-end system step by step. It includes acquired products from Rightworks, Aspect Development, Smart Technologies, eContent and InterTrans Logistics Solutions. Whilst acquired applications have all been sold in the past as ‘able to work together’, 5.2 is significant in that the new, distributed architecture is promised to be tightly integrated, highly connective to legacy and existing ERP systems, and highly scalable and tailored for vertical-specific implementations.
All in all, it is promising to see that a recent high flyer such as i2 has ‘regrouped’ its offerings into a coherent and integrated set of solutions to rival the major ERP vendors. There is plenty of time before version 6 launches next May to see how users cope with this extended choice from one of eBusiness’ best-known vendors.
