Like all Oracle business applications customers, PeopleSoft users are trying to set their application roadmap. For PeopleSoft customers this means deciding whether to stay on their current release, upgrade to version 9.0 which was released last December, wait for 9.1 which is currently in development, or wait and go to Fusion Applications when it is released.
According to John Webb, vice president of PeopleSoft enterprise product strategy, customers have been reassured by the Applications Unlimited commitment and are looking to execute PeopleSoft application projects for the next two to three years. Although he said he believes users will move to Fusion, he sees it being a gradual move, aided by work being done that will allow customers to move over a module at a time.
Although there are separate development teams for each of the five business application product lines, they co-ordinate with each other. This raises the question of whether new functionality developments will surface first in Fusion, leaving customers on the other applications lagging behind, and whether new functionality will form both the carrot and the stick to encourage users to make the Fusion move.
Webb scotched those concerns. We work with the Fusion team and a lot of the areas we look at have been tagged for Fusion but that does not constrain the release of PeopleSoft [functionality], he said. If we see any chances where we can align, we’ll do so because we want similarity in the products because they are built on the Fusion stack. If there is any place we can gain consistency we will do so. [Functionality] that is new to PeopleSoft will eventually be added to Fusion but maybe not within the same time frame.
The assurance is that PeopleSoft developers will be able to drive ahead with innovative developments independent of the Fusion Applications time line and PeopleSoft customers will have access to new functionality without having to wait for or move to Fusion.
In areas where PeopleSoft has traditionally been strong, such as HCM, leading edge functionality can be expected to appear first in the PeopleSoft product. It would be used in Fusion Applications but maybe not the first release, according to Webb.
Customers application roadmap decisions are never going to be easy because each has to be decided on a individual basis. But as part of the Fusion Application release, Oracle will provide a comparative functionality inventory so customers can see what is in each product.
The PeopleSoft development team is concentrating on the 9.1 release. In terms of functionality it is planning to expand the talent management capabilities within the HCM module, addressing the whole recruitment/retention/succession planning life cycle. It will also add support for cascading goals and strategic objectives down from on high to divisions and groups. Webb said this will systematize the operational planning of the organization. Rather than holding goals and objectives in standalone documents, the idea is to build them into the system so they are available and can be tracked and measured. Compensation management functions are also on the list of new or improved functionality within HCM.
In the financials area, the capability to better tie projects and their financial value to company financials will be added. In the supply chain area the focus will be on procurement, with new work flow processes covering the while life cycle from purchase order to delegating approvals.
As far as the underlying technology base is concerned, we will continue to keep an open platform, said Webb. We will continue to adopt and certify Oracle middleware but we will also continue to support third-party technology. PeopleSoft will continue to be available for DB2 and SQL Server but also databases like Informix and Sybase. Although the UK PeopleSoft customer base is Oracle database-centric, of those that aren’t, large customers tend to use DB2, smaller organizations use SQL Server.
Similarly Webb reiterated the commitment to third-party application servers such as those from IBM and BEA Systems We have a large number of customers who run third-party technology infrastructure and it would not make sense to move away, he said. Will will continue to support and allow customs to use [third-party] products with PeopleSoft.
Approximately 150 UK customers are expected at the event, which represents about half of the UK PeopleSoft user base.
