When the Great Recession hit, an Irish dairy and nutritionals provider realized its manual method for managing transportation and delivery was woefully inadequate. The problem was solved when it automated routing and scheduling.

Analyst Insight: Service providers, couriers and retailers have been doing last mile for decades. But times are different now. Consider: omnichannel, Amazon's game-changing free and same-day delivery, and Sears creating an offering service for third parties. The last two years also saw disrupters who were previously unknown enter the logistics market. But traditional transportation technology firms are fighting back. 2015 will show dramatic changes in the market. – Ann Grackin, CEO ChainLink Research