Follow-up from the i2 discussion: i2 vs. Manugistics
Disclaimer: Just in case anyone cares. I am a former employee of Manugistics. I personally have no relationship with the company other than that of a shareholder. However, my employer does have a business relationship with Manugistics.
Value writes: >>i2's solution includes very targeted and specific object models and algorithms for different industries. They seem to recognize that aero is very different from semis. That matters. Clients want vendors who understand the specifics of their businesses.<<
I don't want to get into a pissing match, but I think Manugistics does the exact same thing. A company can't grow from 25Mil to over a 100Mil in revenue in the time that they have without understanding their customers. They have ramped up their marketing and sales organization to address vertical markets (automotive, chem-pharm, high-tech, groceries, CPG, etc.)
Value writes: >>By the way, Gartner ranks Manugistics #1 in supply chain. But recognize that i2's last quarter revenue is comparable to Manugistics' last 9 months'.<<
This is key. Gartner and some of the other firms clearly rank Manugistics #1 in terms of the ability to deliver. Many Big Six consultants who specialize in Supply Chain implementations will (privately) say the same thing. i2's revenues are high because of their ability to sell the vision to executives in an organization. In my opinion, they have not delivered on the vision. Personally, I think that if they actually deliver product and get referenceable customers this year, their momentum will continue. Otherwise, there could be a major hiccup.
Also, note that their profits have flattened because of the huge amount of service revenue that they have started generating. I would keep a very close eye on the license to service revenue ratio, and on the PEG (ala the Motley Fool). |
