How to budget for your Blue Yonder (JDA) WMS project and key enterprise software pricing concepts to consider
Purchasing enterprise software is a strategic decision that requires thoughtful consideration across multiple factors.
Scalability
Analysts commonly categorize solution providers by their capabilities and suitability for various levels of enterprise. During the selection process, consider your company growth trajectory and whether the software is capable of keeping up and adapting to the unique business challenges ahead.
Dozens of vendors specialize in simple inventory management and tracking, (Fishbowl Inventory, Shipedge, etc). These vendors can provide the basic processes you need to barcode and ship inventory and connect to popular e-comm platforms, but they come with less scalable architecture and little room for adaptation to new processes as you grow. However, as you get started the lower starting price points (think Toyota family sedan) may make this the best option for you. While these solutions are commonly implemented for small 3PLs and new startups, it’s highly likely that a thriving business will outgrow the software and need additional support within a few years.
A dedicated supply chain software vendor, like Blue Yonder (JDA / Red Prairie), can handle more complex inventory management scenarios, labor-optimized storage and picking algorithms, and has a strong ecosystem that can provide the services and expertise you need to successfully implement the software and support your operation long-term. Blue Yonder WMS will have a higher starting price point, but the shift to SaaS pricing models has opened up new doors for companies to start out with scalable systems and still manage cash flow.
Pricing Models
As this blog post explains in detail, you will need to consider the pricing model (Software-as-a-service (Saas)/subscription or perpetual licensing) that is right for your company based on cash flow and term commitments. Depending on the vendor, the pricing will either bundle or add on maintenance and support fees (find out more about these fees here).
Infrastructure
Finally, you will need to consider your infrastructure strategy, whether on-premise (in your data center), hosting in a vendor’s cloud, or hosting by a third-party. The biggest factor to consider with vendor cloud SaaS is that you give up some control over implementation and deployment in exchange for high SLAs.
Finding the right partner to launch, and support your WMS journey is critical to your success. The Accelogix team is comprised of industry experts with decades of collective WMS experience to guide you from building a business case, system selection and readiness, to implementation and support and continuous improvement.
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