By Siobhan Kennedy
PeopleSoft Inc will today announce details of a next generation desktop, the PeopleSoft Business Network (PSBN), which it says will give users personalized, browser-based access to a company’s ERP applications as well as integrating a host of other e- commerce applications. A source close to Pleasanton, California- based PeopleSoft told ComputerWire that users will access the PSBN via a desktop interface, which would have the same look and feel as a My Yahoo! web page and which would be designed by PeopleSoft. He said the company has been working with numerous internet-based commerce vendors to integrate their applications and make them accessible to users via the same portal. The announcement will come during the keynote speech on the first day of PeopleSoft’s user conference in San Francisco today. Also at the show, the software vendor is expected to make a series of announcements to bolster its services offerings. The new initiatives are designed to enable the rapid implementation of ERP applications and provide ongoing support for the complete lifecycle of the product, the source said. He added that PeopleSoft disliked the getting it in quickly approach and wanted, instead, to focus on making the applications viable in the long term. The move is part of PeopleSoft’s recent push into the services market. Earlier this month (CI No 3,511) the company announced a partnership with Computer Sciences Corp and KPMG Peat Marwick to offer its ERP applications as an outsourced service. It also teamed with two smaller players, Corio and USinternetworking, to offer remote hosting of its applications over the internet in a move similar to that announced by Oracle in September (CI No 3,505). A spokesperson for PeopleSoft wouldn’t disclose any details about the announcements other than to say the company would unveil a number of new services initiatives. He added: We’re not saying we want to be a services company, but we understand the need for high customer satisfaction. We won’t be satisfied until everybody is happy. He said that users didn’t buy PeopleSoft applications because of their global functionality, but because the company had, he said, the greatest reputation for focusing on customer services. The company is also expected to give a preview of Release 8.0 of its ERP applications, slated to be available by the end of this year.
