Search Results for: forecasting

… although strong in different areas) always seemed to indicate that JDA was following the Computer Associates/now Oracle model of buying software for its customers and their support contracts. Experience in analyzing JDA supports the fact that this is the company’s strategy.
Application Detail
JDA Demand Management (DM), their forecasting application was acquired from the Manugistics acquisition. Manugistics forecasting application was for years one of the best applications that Manugistics had. When companies that switched way from Manugistics demand planning to trendier applications like SAP DP end up wishing they had not. Therefore, even though it has not been …

… not from the most prominent vendors, but the smaller vendors.
Application Detail
Smoothie is one of the value leaders in the demand planning space. In an area where applications attempt to outdo each other concerning the complexity of forecasting algorithms, Demand Works focuses on the parts of forecasting that most forecasting software vendors ignore, which are the following areas:

The user interface and graphics
Collaborative forecasting
Auto parameter setting and the ease of use of best-fit forecasting
File import and export
Overall usability
Attribute-based forecasting (both for top-down forecasting and navigation)

Some application have attribute-based forecasting …

Executive Summary

This is the Brightwork Research & Analysis software rating series.
We rate both the software and estimate the risk of implementing each application.

MUFI Rating & Risk for JDA Demand Management
MUFI: Maintainability, Usability, Functionality, Implement ability
Vendor: Oracle (Select For Vendor Profile)
Introduction
Oracle Demantra is yet another Oracle acquisition. In our view, Demantra was an average statistical forecasting system when Oracle acquired it in 2006. However, with little investment into the application since its acquisition, Demantra is now a severely lagging application at this point which is primarily living off of its association with Oracle. And the fact …

… application for serious forecasting.
Application Detail
Forecast Pro TRAK is one of the value leaders in the forecasting space. Forecast Pro TRAK has a similar feel to Demand Works Smoothie (although many of the comparisons stop at the user interface). Forecast Pro TRAK has a strong focus on attribute-based forecasting. Attributes all for the creation of flexible forecast hierarchies and the capability that any forecasting system has concerning managing attributes is one of the essential ways of grading any forecasting system. Forecast Pro TRAK’s characteristics are easy to use but are not the best in the category.

Notice …

… IT department are mere “SAP shops,” and has little interest in participating in an actual software selection.
DP has problems with managing hierarchies, with disaggregation, with best-fit functionality, with lifecycle planning, and the list goes on from there. SAP DP has the lowest scoring user interface of all the forecasting applications we test. SAP APO consultants seem to live in a bubble concerning DP. Those that specialize in DP rate that their clients are satisfied with DP and that DP is a very functional application. Manual adjustments can be made with something called phase in and phase out profiles …