i2, a leading supplier of supply chain software, has recently announced a complement to its Agile Business Process Platform (ABPP) that provides customers pre-configured “workflows.” This Business Content Library (BCL) is aimed at speeding the development and implementation of i2 software solutions and to meet unique customer requirements more effectively. Last week, Supply Chain Digest took a look at i2’s Business Content Library, and provides this review and comment.

The ABPP platform is based on a Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) technical architecture, meaning it uses “web services” to connect i2 applications and functionality together. These web services are also used to make i2 software capabilities available to external applications, such as SAP or Oracle. Within the ABPP, the i2 Studio (see illustration below) is used to customize individual i2 solutions (e.g. Factory Planner, Demand Manager) or any combinations of these applications or optimization “engines”, including the underlying data models (very important), the user interface (UI, or what the user actually sees when running the application) and the underlying processes or workflows.

i2 argues that traditional packaged supply chain applications have limited companies from meeting their true operational needs or served as a barrier to supply chain innovation. The promise of i2’s ABPP – and indeed SOA as a technology foundation – is that software can be much more easily tailored to meet these unique supply chain requirements, and that SOA-based applications can integrate with other internal and external systems far more seamlessly than with traditional software.

Using a tool like the i2 Studio can enable companies to much more flexibly implement supply chain software solutions and then adapt these solutions over time. However, starting from scratch within this environment could take a very long time and be beyond the resources of many companies. In response, i2 has released the Business Content Library, which offers a series of pre-built workflows by key functional areas and vertical industries, with plans to deliver a growing catalog of these workflows over time.

Fralick Says:

As we frequently see with i2, the company has taken a bold and aggressive approach to supply chain software. The Agile Business Process Platform offers the promise of game-changing flexibility, based on one of the most advanced offerings of SOA-based technology in the industry to date. What do you say? Send us your comments here

This is a powerful vision, but for this type of approach to be usable by customers it is critical that the library be logically and visually well organized. i2 has done a good job of structuring the initial catalog, breaking the high level process supported in the BCL into areas such as Total Supply Management, Total Inventory Management, Retail Planning and Allocation, etc. Within these categories, i2 will build out a series of workflows at multiple levels and make them available to customers (BCL is sold by i2 primarily on a subscription basis).

There are a number of currently available workflows, and more will be developed over time. One of both the opportunities and challenges for i2 will be maintaining the discipline and resources to develop these packaged workflows across multiple dimensions. Within a category such as Supply Planning, workflows will need to be constructed for high level, as well as more detailed processes; for different vertical industries; and for different levels of process maturity.

For example, the way Sales and Operations Planning would be handled within different industries or experience with S&OP will vary widely. In addition, there will be lower level supply planning and demand planning processes/workflows required to support S&OP. Hence, many workflows will be needed just within the area of S&OP to meet the needs of various customers.

Customers can use the libraries as is, or as a starting point for tailoring to meet company specific needs. The i2 Studio provides the capability to take individual workflows (say in a process/function like transportation management) and then link them into other processes (such as supply planning) to build cross functional processes.

The workflows are represented graphically (see screen shot below), with different “nodes” in the workflow representing such things as the user interface, calls to other applications/services, and other key attributes. After a standard workflow has been modified, it is saved as a project file, then moved to “execution.” This step creates the operational application that will actually be used by employees and other systems (specific UI, process flows, database updates, alerts, etc.).

Pricing Model

As a new offering not only to i2, but to the market generally, we suspect it will take some time for i2 to fully understand the right way to price the BCL and for users to buy it. Currently, there are two main methods.

For companies that are part of i2’s Supply Chain Leaders program, which means they spend a decent amount of money, but get access to basically all of i2’s applications and intellectual property, plus a defined level of consulting support, the BCL can comes as part of that program.

If you are not part of that program (there are just a few companies that are, such as Dell and Texas Instruments), you pay a subscription fee that provides you access to the BCL libraries.

We suspect over time, i2 will need to move to a more “pay by the drink” model, where customers subscribe just for the specific workflows or groups of them that are downloaded and used.

Support

One of the challenges with this kind of flexibility is that users can take the tools and go off in directions that are difficult, if not impossible, for the software vendor to support when there are problems/questions down the road.

This not an easy problem to address, but i2 has taken some reasonable steps to offer customers alternatives. For example, after you create custom workflows from the BCL, companies can upload those changes back into i2’s central BCL system, so that support personnel can, at least, easily see what customers have done. Customizations at the user level are also stored in a separate library, so they are not directly impacted when upgrades to the platform are made. While this won’t eliminate work associated with an upgrade to applications or the platform, it will reduce it.

However, you will need to engage i2 for Custom Workflow Management services for support for workflows modified from the BCL base.

What We Like

As we frequently see with i2, the company has taken a bold and aggressive approach to supply chain software. The Agile Business Process Platform offers the promise of game-changing flexibility, based on one of the most advanced offerings of SOA-based technology in the industry to date, but the effort for many customers to drive value starting from a blank slate would be daunting.

Previous attempts by supply chain software vendors to prepackage configurations have mostly been disappointing to both users and the vendors. The i2 BCL workflows, however, have great promise in their vision, goals, and usability.

The future of supply chain software is SOA, and providing customers the power to craft the specific user applications and process flows they require upfront and over time is of great value in this dynamic and highly competitive supply chain environment.

Even with the capabilities of ABPP and the BCL, a big challenge for a company like i2, which has a very broad product suite and support for many vertical industries, is simply the organization of potentially hundreds of pre-configured workflows. We think i2 has done a good job of setting up a categorization and taxonomy of the libraries that will make it relatively easy for subscribers to find what they need.

One of the keys in the end will be the ability for users to build small workflows to support a specific function or lower level process, but then be capable of stringing some of those smaller workflows (or pieces of them) together to create larger or cross functional processes. i2 recognizes this requirement, and has enabled this “stitching” approach to development within the ABPP and BCL platforms.

User Considerations

Though i2 has put substantial development effort into this product (both the platform itself and the BCL), it is understandably a work in progress. As such, it’s important that potential customers look hard at whether the currently available workflows in the BCL are close to the process and functionality requirements they have. The answer will be Yes for some today, but down the road for others.

i2 will be challenged to continue to devote the resources required to build out the workflow library, as the need/opportunity may be greater than the internal development staff to do so. In fact, this has been the downfall of many previous attempts to prepackage functionality by supply chain software vendors.

This type of development is different than traditional product enhancements, and i2 (as any company taking this approach) will have to be very disciplined to keep building out the library. It could be we will see i2 integration partners build out workflows using the ABPP that meet the needs of specific process or industries, which they will make available when implementing i2 solutions.

The challenge with any of these flexible, visual process environments has always been less the configuration of the base processes themselves than how exceptions to those processes are handled. As the number of exceptions that must be managed increases, the complexity in a visual environment can be overwhelming. From our discussions, we believe i2 recognizes this challenge, and has taken steps to minimize the complexity, but potential customers should spend some time digging into this topic generally and for their specific processes requirements in some detail.

It is also important to identify the specific individuals or positions in your company that will develop and maintain the process flows and capabilities. The reality is it takes a combination of both operational and technical skills. A team-based approach is probably the answer, but companies need to ensure the project teams are well structured to deliver a result that really maximizes the potential.

Rating of the i2 Business Content Library

Vision:  þþþþþ

Functionality: þþþþ¨

Maturity/Market Establishment: þþ¨¨¨

“Coolness”: þþþþ¨

Value: þþþ¨¨ based on current maturity, but can be highly valuable for specific companies today, and more over time. Some users will save considerable time and effort to craft their solutions, and/or may create faster supply chain process innovation or response to market opportunity.

Agree or disgree with our product review? What would you add? Let us know your thoughts for publication in the SCDigest newsletter Feedback section, and on the web site. Upon request, comments will be posted with the respondent's name or company withheld.