An announcement last week by supply chain software vendor Manhattan Associates and IBM caught our interest mostly as it relates to the prospects for so-called “best-of-breed” software, which in general refers to software that is not from one of the major ERP providers like SAP or Oracle.

The prospects for best-of-breed software have been a subject of much debate among industry analysts, software vendors, and customers, as many companies standardize on an ERP system for most business applications, and vendor consolidation continues.

Manhattan Associates and IBM have had a long relationship, dating back to Manhattan’s original solutions being based on IBM’s AS/400 platform. But the latest announcement indicates an accelerated partnership, in which IBM will be more active in helping sell and implement Manhattan’s logistics and supply chain planning solutions, both in North America and especially in other parts of the globe.

IBM must be bullish on best-of-breed prospects to commit resources to such an expanded relationship. Some pundits also note that IBM, SAP and Oracle compete for software solutions that integrate trading partners (e.g. IBM’s WebSphere, SAP’s Netweaver), and that relationships with best-of-breed vendors whose software runs on WebSphere help IBM in that marketplace.