More WMS buyers are opting to handle system integration themselves rather than hire an integrator. There are pros and cons to both approaches.

It looks like America's passion for the do-it-yourself or "DIY" lifestyle now extends past the home and garden and right into the business world, where an increasing number of companies are opting to integrate software with their own enterprise systems. A 2005 survey conducted by Logistics Management and Supply Chain Management Review found that more than one-third of companies (35 percent) handled some or all of their integrations in-house.

The survey also found that only a slim 16 percent are using outside systems integrators. It's a trend that's been evident for a while, says Mike Rader, vice president of implementation services for Indianapolis-based enVista, a systems integrator. "We've definitely seen less use of integrators in the past couple of years," he says.

But that doesn't mean integrators are on their way out entirely. That shippers take different approaches to software integration reflects the fact that what works for one company won't necessarily work for another. As DIY proponents and integrators both recognize, each has its place.

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With warehouse management systems (WMS) ranking as the most commonly used application (52 percent of respondents to the survey had them installed), the connection between the DIY approach and WMS is clear.

There have always been shippers that opt not to use third-party consultants for WMS integrations, says Prashant Bhatia, senior director of product management at Manhattan Associates, an Atlanta-based supply chain software company. Now, however, more companies than ever are choosing do-it-yourself WMS installations. "We see a lot more companies going into [WMS installations] without an integration partner," says John Pulling, COO of Grand Rapids, Mich.-based software developer Provia.

Industry experts point to three main factors that are driving that trend. First, the economic downturn prompted many companies to save money by skimping on integration services. Second, many logistics professionals have already lived through at least one WMS installation. When John Sidell, principal and co-founder of Toledo, Ohio-based Esync, presents his firm's systems-integration services to potential clients, he knows that at least 50 percent of his audience has already had hands-on experience with WMS installations. "There are a lot of people out there who in a previous life have implemented these types of systems," says Sidell, who believes that widespread experience with WMS implementations is a key driver behind the software survey results.

Finally, software vendors are going out of their way to make it easier for buyers to handle integration themselves or with support from the vendors. Many are offering tools like vendor-supplied "adaptor kits," also known as "pre-build kits" or "pre-written application program interfaces." These pre-established interfaces create connections that facilitate basic transactions, making it faster and easier to integrate WMS software with the buyer's existing ERP or other business management system.

Just one example: Manhattan Associates wove a layer of "enterprise integration services" into its WMS product, thus ensuring interoperability between the new software and existing systems. "Integration can be one of the riskiest components of any installation, in terms of getting true software to work and function properly within the overall IT infrastructure," says Bhatia. "Through the enterprise integration services, we've facilitated overall communication and data transformation coming into our system and going out to third-party applications."

Many buyers depend on their software vendors to manage WMS integrations; some 27 percent of respondents to the Logistics Management/Supply Chain Management Review survey said they looked to a software vendor for integration support.

That works well for some companies, but systems integrators say buyers aren't always realistic about what they're getting. "Companies buy software and assume the vendor is going to handle everything for them, and they don't," says Sidell.

Another potential drawback is that software vendors may suffer from "tunnel vision" because they only have in-depth knowledge about their own systems' capabilities. That's where integrators bring the most value to the table, says Duane Krahn, manager of systems integration for Milwaukee-based Irista, a subsidiary of HK Systems. Software buyers can greatly benefit from integrators' broad perspective, which stems from their experience with different industries and WMS vendors, he says. Continued...

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