Is SSA Global (www.ssaglobal.com) a best-of-breed solution provider, an enterprise resource planning (ERP) provider, or both?

With SSA's recent purchases of Arzoon, a provider of transportation and global trade management solutions, and Marcam, a provider of ERP solutions for process manufacturers, the answer might be both.

The latest acquisitions, announced in June, come on the heels of a slew of other deals. During the last few years, SSA has purchased supply chain execution solutions from Computer Associates, Baan, the Dutch ERP provider; EXE Technologies, one of the largest best-of-breed providers of warehouse solutions; and CAPS Logistics, a provider of transportation planning and supply chain modeling solutions.

The company, which also recently filed to go public, says more acquisitions may follow. "As the complexity of the supply chain evolves, SSA Global will continue to develop and invest in new solutions to help our customers be successful," says Cory Eaves, corporate vice president, solutions management and research.

Analysts like Dwight Klappich of the META Group (www.metagroup.com), believe that these acquisitions will certainly benefit SSA Global's existing customers. But to compete with the likes of SAP and Oracle, he adds, "SSA must quickly articulate a strategy for how it intends to rationalize its solution portfolio and how it plans to integrate process flows across supply chain management applications."