A Microsoft Corp. devotee from way back, HighJump Software (Eden Prairie, MN) is counting heavily on new .NET foundation technologies to infuse its recently unveiled supply chain execution (SCE) software with performance and cost of ownership advantages over previous iterations and, it contends, the competition.
Running on Microsoft's latest release of its ASP.NET application server platform, the new software is said to deliver improved scalability and reliability, a prerequisite in today's complex and dispersed supply chain environments. With the new release, for instance, server hardware is said to support four times as many users (depending on application load) as HighJump's previous generation, which the company said reduces infrastructure and support costs.
Moreover, the software's reliance on standard Windows user interfaces enables non-technical personnel to change workflow functionality to meet ever-changing business requirements. "We're empowering customers to adapt our software to their needs," notes Chris Heim, president and general manager of HighJump, a 3M business unit, which last year posted $43 million in revenues (a 22% increase from 2003). "Other [supply chain execution software vendors] require a programmer to do it."
Isolating the business logic from the application server also makes customization easier, notes AMR Research Inc. (Boston) analyst Greg Ami. And that's critical since most manufacturers need to adapt out-of-the-box SCE functionality to meet their business-process idiosyncrasies.
"Other applications require customization of code within the [server] software," he says. "You then need to retrofit, which is costly to do."
HighJump -- along with Red Prairie -- is among .Net's trend-setters in the SCE space, Ami notes. By adopting .NET as its web services architecture, HighJump has not only made it easier for its SCE applications to seamlessly interoperate across a common platform, but for manufacturers and third-party developers to create composite application extensions.
But being a pioneer can be lonely, since HighJump is now watching its partners and customers' IT departments play catch up.
"We were quick to add capabilities to expose our business process as web services," Heim said. "We're now waiting for other systems we interact with to mature and add their own web service interfaces so we can plug into them."
Existing customers will not have to pay more for the additional .NET capabilities. "We are taking a customer-friendly approach; in the normal evolution ... we deliver more value and support to the business. ... If a customer is on maintenance, they get the new release for free."
Upgrading to the new architecture can be accomplished over a weekend, and won't exceed $8,000 in professional services fees, the company promises. "We know of some customers that have done it over their lunch [hour], but we don't recommend it," Heim jokes.
This article was repurposed from the November 2005 issue of Managing Automation magazine.