The Re-Emergence of HighJump

I had an interesting briefing this week with HighJump, a leading provider of WMS software. It’s been an interesting road for HighJump over the last decade. In the early 2000s, the company was firmly nipping at the heels of Tier-1 providers like Manhattan Associates and RedPrairie (now JDA). HighJump was the leader of a pack of aggressive mid-tier players with a more modern WMS: Windows-based, with Service-Oriented-Architecture for ease of configuration. Then, the company was acquired by industrial conglomerate 3M in 2004. Despite significant revenue growth over the next four years, the company seemed to lose focus. We started hearing about customers dissatisfied with HighJump’s support, and having a rougher time than usual with upgrades. HighJump seemed to struggle on the sales front as well, having difficulty responding to RFPs (their traditional strong suit).

 

In 2008 the company was spun off by 3M and acquired by Battery Ventures, a private equity firm. Though it’s taken some time, HighJump seems on the road to recovery, as evidenced by a few factors. To begin with, there seems to be much less negative chatter amongst the user community. Support levels seem to be back on track. The company has come out with guns blazing on some recent WMS selections that I have managed, and actually won one of the engagements amidst stiff competition from Tier 1 players, reminiscent of the HighJump of old. (For a discussion on the differences between the various WMS tiers, see: Selecting the Right WMS, What You Need to Know before You Buy a Tier 1, Tier 2, or Tier 2 WMS.)

 

At my briefing this week, I was impressed that HighJump’s message has seemed remarkably consistent over the last 10 years: they may not have every feature one could dream of “off the shelf”, but their software is more flexible and easier to configure than any other large player in the WMS space. They don’t ever modify what they define as “source code”, and they’ll guarantee the cost of an upgrade if asked to. HighJump’s focus is right where it should be: user companies SHOULD be thinking about total cost of ownership over a 10-year period – through implementation, a few upgrades, and some business changes. Of course, to pull this off, two things have to happen: (1) companies buying HighJump need to be willing to develop some internal talent to be able to modify and upgrade the software, and (2) HighJump needs to be committed to supporting those customers without larger IT departments by offering fast turnaround times when they need to develop new features and roll out new versions. I believe that they’ll be successful in their re-dedication to these principals.

 

As far as the product offering goes, the company still has the robust core WMS functionality it always had. It offers a true slotting system with move-level ROI, and a labor management module that seems robust, even if it is not deployed very widely in the field. Their Yard Management System seems to have all the bells and whistles.

 

The company has waffled a bit over the years on its TMS strategy. HighJump has a legacy TMS solution that is no longer being enhanced, the company made an acquisition of a direct-store-delivery company a few years ago, and has struck a few partnerships with best-of-breed TMS providers like MercuryGate, MPObjects, and 3GTMS. This shifting strategy, while a little confusing to keep up with, shouldn’t impact the company very much – it has always been my opinion that customers buy WMS and TMS for different reasons and at different times, and that tight integration between these two systems isn’t as valuable in the long run as some companies expect.

 

A bigger area of focus for HighJump should be plugging a gap that exists in the area of Order Management. The company currently partners with a 3rd party provider for this functionality. As I’ve written recently, the advent of omni-channel commerce has made functionality like “Distributed Order Management” (DOM) more important than ever, see: What is a DOM? An Overview of Crucial Enabling Technology for Omni-Channel Distribution.  DOM allows retailers to setup complex rules for when orders will be filled from store inventory vs. DC inventory, when to split orders, etc. There is a real shortage of solutions in this area for mid-market companies. HighJump would be well-served to make the development of a Distributed Order Management system a key initiative over the next 24 months.

 

Many WMS companies don’t survive a few ownership changes the likes of what HighJump has gone through with an intact product line (anybody remember Catalyst? Yantra? SmartTurn?). For this reason, it’s refreshing to see a re-invigorated HighJump that hasn’t lost its soul over a few challenging years.