Application provider PeopleSoft Inc. recently announced plans to sell its mid-market software in several countries outside the U.S., including Canada.
The Accelerated Solutions have been localized for language, currency and regulatory requirements of each country, PeopleSoft said.
The fixed-price solutions include Peoplesoft’s Internet applications, technical and end-user training and implementation services. The offerings include customer relationship management, supply chain management, enterprise service automation, financials and human capital management.
The first solution to be delivered will be PeopleSoft Accelerated CRM for the financial services, discreet manufacturing and wholesale distribution industries, the company said.
PeopleSoft made the announcement last month at its Connect 2002 Americas user conference in New Orleans.
The company also detailed its new partnership with IBM Corp.’s mid-sized business division to offer pre-configured servers running the company’s DB2 database and middleware products and business software to Canadian customers.
The Pleasanton, Calif.-based company, whose mid-market division was initially only available in the U.S., defines mid-market companies as those with US$300 million and less in annual revenue. The mid-market in Canada is one that can’t be overlooked, said Phil Wilmington, Americas executive vice-president for PeopleSoft.
He noted that these mid-market companies have a strong need for enterprise applications but often don’t have the resources to deploy them.
The Canadian mid-market is a mix of domestic companies and subsidiaries of multi-national companies, said Toronto-based Peter Smith, regional vice-president of PeopleSoft global services in Canada.
“Domestic companies are really focused on how they stay successful within Canada…how they reach and expand their market and try to get global share,” Smith said. On the multi-national side, Smith added, Canadian companies need to carve out a voice within the scope of a global strategy.
If PeopleSoft is mindful that mid-market parameters change from country to country, the solution should be a viable one, said software analyst Warren Shiau for IDC Canada Ltd. in Toronto. What is considered a mid-market enterprise in the U.S. is often considered a large company in Canada, Shiau said.
PeopleSoft president and CEO Craig Conway also outlined changes to its flagship suite, PeopleSoft 8, and said the upcoming PeopleSoft CRM 8.8 will have an improved interface that will require a maximum of just three clicks to complete tasks, Conway said.
PeopleSoft customer Chris Gail, manager of supply chain for Calgary-based energy distribution, supply and service company Enmax Corp., noted that the company is currently running PeopleSoft 7.5.3 with plans to move to the latest suite. The solution, Gail said, allows Enmax to cost-effectively tie its billing, payables, receiving and HR together. Enmax, an subsidiary of the City of Calgary, operates and competes in a deregulated industry, Gail said, adding that the PeopleSoft supply chain management solution successfully went live February of this year.
Connect 2002 News
– PeopleSoft’s HR management applications are now in their third generation and are called Human Capital Management.
– Three new portals have been added to PeopleSoft Financial Management Solutions, including the CFO Portal.
– An additional six new Supply Chain Management modules were unveiled.
– Connect saw the release of a new Application Integration suite including AppConnect – a Web-enabled, pre-integrated portal integration and warehouse.
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PeopleSoft further bolstered its Enterprise Service Automation (ESA) suite by adding its Project Portfolio Management and ESA Warehouse.
