i2 Technologies

Dallas, Texas

Merges with Aspect Development; $9.3 billion deal the largest in software history Launches Infinite Content as an independent business unit Forms best-of-breed alliance with IBM and Ariba Releases TradeMatrix collaborative design and sourcing solutions

www.i2.com

i2 Technologies isn't merely in the right place at the right time: it is creating the right place at the right time. Customers of the company's TradeMatrix portal solution are building B2B marketplaces and trading communities that are defining what's new about global e-business. TradeMatrix is integrated with i2's flagship Rhythm software suite for e-business process optimization - a product that has moved into the leadership position for supply and demand chain management. Whereas transaction-oriented ERP systems focus on what has happened, Rhythm's decision-support "visibility" solutions help businesses understand and plan for what will happen. And it seems certain that what will happen is continued rapid growth for i2.

i2's roller coaster stock is not for the faint-hearted, but the overall trend is bullish. Hard-working founder and CEO Sanjiv Sidhu is now the wealthiest Indian immigrant in the United States., with a personal wealth of more than $7 billion, according to Business Week. In March, the company announced a $9.3 billion merger with Aspect Development, a leading supplier of content aggregation and business collaboration solutions. In October, the company created an independent business unit, called Infinite Content. As a quasi-independent entity, Infinite Content could become the dominant software provider supporting B2B e-marketplace needs to search, store, and publish industry-specialized content and integrate it with processes.

Intelligence in the Loop

Supply chain management (SCM) begins with the simple notion that processes interact: and that to reduce costs, improve service, build higher revenues, and bring ideas into the commercial marketplace faster, businesses must understand the interactions. Using optimization algorithms, activity-based analysis, and other decision-support software, i2 enables businesses to gain an ordered understanding of the complex, often chaotic interaction of processes. Intelligent SCM fits nicely with the concept of "agile" manufacturing, where companies support mass customization with short, easily changed production runs. Advanced SCM, agile manufacturing, and fast logistics increasingly depend on a closed information loop that provides immediate visibility into interacting processes. The ultimate vision is to bring front office, high-touch eCRM applications into the loop, to create highly responsive end-to-end chains.

i2's influential role in bringing this vision into reality has not gone unnoticed. In March, IBM and Ariba formed an alliance with i2 to deliver end-to-end B2B e-commerce and collaboration solutions. Just as business intelligence software vendors shift from a "batch" world toward realtime delivery of analysis, so too must i2 keep pace with this evolution. Based on its performance, it's a good bet that i2's response will be optimal.

i2's success in bringing intelligence to bear on a complex web of process infrastructures for high-value B2B collaboration earn it the top spot in this year's Dozen.