Descartes Systems Group Inc, the Waterloo, Ontario-based maker of supply chain software, announced a strategic alliance with Cap Gemini Group yesterday, under which the two said they would work together to help logistics companies and brick-and-mortar firms transfer the management of their supply chains to the web.
Descartes offers a portfolio of software offerings that provide fulfillment operations in time-sensitive supply chains. The software allows organizations to manage and optimize their order- to-delivery cycle and gain complete, real-time visibility and control over their supply-chain operations from the web.
Beth Enslow, VP of strategic initiatives for Descartes, said currently the company works with logistics service providers, such as TNT and Excel, to help them manage their supply chains but she added that Cap Gemini had access to hundreds of customers who were looking to bring their physical supply chains to the web as well.
We develop web-based solutions to help monitor and manage that physical flow of goods over the web, she said. As well as working in the traditional B2B marketplace, Enslow said Descartes sees a lot of opportunity in the B2C sector too. She said the company just signed a deal with Webvan.com, a firm that sells groceries over the internet. Under that agreement, Descartes will provide Webvan with optimized scheduling software which lets customers nominate specific days and times to receive goods, as well as back-end fulfillment processes. Enslow said the market for these types of home delivery services, as well as logistics service providers, was booming.
As part of the deal, Descartes will become a partner in Cap Gemini’s Paris-based solution center for integrated supply chain management. The center combines consulting, IT Services, software and hardware products in the fields for e-business, ERP, supply chain management and customer relationship management services. It is used to hold client workshops that address industry- specific business issues, and Descartes software solutions will be used to demonstrate key technological solutions, the companies said.
As well as Cap Gemini bringing Descartes into its customer deals, Enslow said Descartes will also use the consulting firm as one of its preferred systems integrators. The company already has other partnerships with leading consulting firms, such as KPMG and Ernst & Young, but Enslow said yesterday’s announcement with Cap Gemini was the most significant since the two have formed an alliance on a global basis.
It’s the depth of this alliance that’s different, she said. We will be actively partnering on worldwide basis where as our other agreements are more regionally focused. She added that the deal wasn’t based on any revenue sharing scheme. Rather, the two will market each other’s services and any joint customers will pay each company separately, she said.
