What is our primary use case?
Currently, I am more concentrated in the CatMan area in terms of Blue Yonder Platform technologies. In Blue Yonder Platform they have several products that are included in this Category Management area.
For Blue Yonder Platform, it depends on the solution, but in the specific case of Category Management, it is the creation of the space planning, so the shelf in the retail environment and the creation of the floor plan, specifically used for retails. Moreover, it manage the assortment, the forecast and the fulfillment o distribution centers.
What is most valuable?
For Catman, they have one of the best solutions in the world, which I appreciate because it is easy to use, very powerful, not complex to implement, but can be tailored for end users and customers.
The goal is to achieve customer satisfaction so that the shelf is not empty and has the product required by the end customer.
In this area, real-time insights have had no impact. Normally, the real-time solution in this area is not used, as information can be transferred in batch mode daily.
What needs improvement?
In my experience, there are areas that can be improved, but this is common to all solution providers. I cannot see any specific area where a new solution or improvement is required.
I think we are in good shape with the development team, sales team, and those responsible for the area to understand the requirements of users and customers while making changes.
They need always to improve; considering Blue Yonder Platform's 30 years of history, older companies may be more conservative and less flexible in meeting new requirements.
For how long have I used the solution?
For the Category Management (CatMan) area, I have been working for about 8 years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
In my experience, the stability and scalability of the solutions depend on the solution implemented; high performance may require specific configurations.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
The on-premise solution is scalable, depending on the architecture used, and I am not obliged to use any specific hardware. Cloud can be adapted to each needs.
How are customer service and support?
I would rate the technical support experience around a seven; my general overview is that they close cases quickly but may not focus solely on customer needs. This is valid both for Blue Yonder and for other competitor.
How would you rate customer service and support?
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
I have worked with several different supply chain management products including Kinaxis, o9, sedApta, and RELEX.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup on-premise may be complex, but is well described; the cloud solutions is completely supported buy cloud team and it is quickly available. However, technical complexity can vary.
What about the implementation team?
Blue Yonder Platform is one of the strong companies in the market with an high level of expertise.
What was our ROI?
My customers have always seen ROI with Blue Yonder Platform, assuming there is a strong headquarters managing the project and committed stakeholders.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
Regarding the pricing, licensing cost, and setup cost of Blue Yonder Platform, I cannot say anything about cost, as I am a partner.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
The main differences depend on the area, with some products designed and tailored for specific areas; for instance, BY Space is one of the best solutions for a large range of retailers.
For enterprise-level solutions, Blue Yonder Platform is the best, but for small retailers, some competitor solutions may provide less complex and less expensive options.
What other advice do I have?
I am interested in understanding the goal of this call and why we are discussing PeerSpot. It makes sense that it is something similar to LinkedIn, but with different functionalities.
I have not yet used the AI-driven predictive analytics in Blue Yonder Platform, but they are improving this kind of solution.
On a scale of one to ten, I rate Blue Yonder Platform an eight.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
Private Cloud
If public cloud, private cloud, or hybrid cloud, which cloud provider do you use?
Other
