News / WiseTech strategy raises alarm over future of 3PL software ecosystem

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WiseTech Global’s new CargoWise strategy is triggering growing concern among freight forwarders and software vendors that the logistics technology market is moving toward a closed ecosystem, potentially marginalising third-party providers and reducing innovation. 

Industry executives and analysts say WiseTech’s shift toward bundling functionality into CargoWise, combined with its planned acquisition of supply chain software group E2open, risks reshaping how logistics technology is bought, integrated and developed – with CargoWise increasingly positioned as the unavoidable system of record. 

One IT vendor told The Loadstar the changes represented a fundamental shift in how the platform would be used and extended. 

“It’s going to be the foundation for a fairly big shift in terms of how people use CargoWise,” he said, adding that the strategy effectively assumes customers will adopt WiseTech’s native tools rather than rely on external platforms. 

Historically, large freight forwarders have relied on third-party applications to address functional gaps in CargoWise, spanning areas such as document automation, emissions reporting, customer visibility, AI-driven workflows, and financial tooling. 

But Jamie Andrade, SVP of product management at Seko Logistics, said on social media that flexibility was now being eroded. 

“The original model gave us the autonomy to solve gaps independently,” she noted. “Under the new model, that flexibility is effectively removed.” 

She warned that CargoWise was increasingly treated as the ‘centre of the technology stack’, despite most forwarders operating across multiple platforms. 

“This pricing model assumes CargoWise is the centre of the universe and penalises anything outside that – which is simply not our reality.” 

The IT vendor said this created a structural challenge for third-party vendors whose value propositions rely on deep integration with CargoWise. 

“You’re basically paying now for the optimised way,” he said. “The question is whether customers will actually change their processes, or simply be forced into them.”  

Vendors argue that WiseTech’s expanding product suite does not yet match the depth or edge-case coverage of specialist software. 

James Coombes, CEO of Raft, told The Loadstar: “We know how difficult meaningfully deploying AI systems across our customers is, it isn’t a case of ‘just switching it on’, it takes real engagement and understanding of complex workflows in close partnership with our users, and we don’t believe that is changing anytime soon.

“Real AI deployment takes real work at multiple levels. Raft would advise freight forwarders to continue to work holistically with partners in the ecosystem who are serious about getting to know their businesses deeply and helping to reinvent them for the AI age. We believe the landscape is changing fast and our customers should work with providers who move at the pace of today’s technology change.”

David Haynes, VP of sales for BravoTran, said on social media that customers risked losing capability by abandoning third-party tools too quickly. He asked: “What happens when [WiseTech’s] product is significantly inferior to third-party solutions on the market?” 

He warned that apparent simplification could mask operational risk. 

“What if the CargoWise solutions fail in edge cases where your third-party didn’t? Short-term savings can easily become long-term loss.” 

The vendor source echoed that concern, noting that WiseTech’s much-anticipated automation and AI capabilities remain limited in practice. 

“The only AI tool they’ve actually released is something to help you find information on how to use CargoWise,” he said, adding that document automation tools acquired years ago had yet to be fully deployed.

The challenge for vendors is compounded by the difficulty forwarders face in moving away from CargoWise entirely. The vendor said regulatory compliance requirements, particularly around customs data retention, made CargoWise effectively irreplaceable for many operators.

“You can’t just turn it off,” he said, pointing to multi-year audit requirements in key markets. 

While WiseTech argues that deeper integration and native functionality will drive efficiency, industry participants warn that a shrinking role for independent vendors could slow innovation and limit choice, over time. 

For third-party vendors, the question is no longer whether CargoWise will dominate the logistics software landscape, but whether there will still be room to build viable businesses alongside it. 

“It’s a tricky dance for those companies that fill in the gaps in CargoWise,” said the vendor. “There’s a piece where you’re adding cost, and a piece where you’re reducing cost – and not everyone is going to survive that transition.” 

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