The Dozen 2003PeopleSoft Inc.Pleasanton, Calif.The pressure is on. Sure, there's the economy; but the bigger issue is how to meet expectations raised by enterprise applications. Users are getting antsy; they want to be smarter, faster, and more profitable. As the commoditization tide rises and profit margins get thinner, what can these packaged applications give them that their competitors don't have? When will all this CRM stuff become an enabler — rather than a straightjacket, or worse, a doorstop? PeopleSoft's response has been to aim higher. The company began 2002 as the chief articulator of the "real-time enterprise." Perhaps gauging customers' inability to stomach high-concept strategies, the enterprise application software provider geared down as the year progressed, targeting more concrete solutions. Things such as HelpDesk for Human Resources: Hitting a PeopleSoft stronghold, this solution brings CRM technology to bear on employee relationships. Topical financial disclosure and homeland security problems were also met by specific PeopleSoft solutions. However, PeopleSoft's vision of the real-time enterprise sticks in the mind. What does it take for an organization to react immediately to change — and to deliver information about changing conditions to people and applications at the moment they most need it? For answers, PeopleSoft is looking beyond specific software applications to focus on business processes that flow through the applications. In a collaborative world based on Web services, business processes will likely engage any number of heterogeneous, best-of-breed applications, as needed, in a nonlinear fashion. As PeopleSoft sees it, you can forget the proprietary monolith. Key 2002 releases such as the AppConnect Suite embody the company's determination to put integration at the core. Analytics and MetricsIntegration is the foundation of PeopleSoft's Enterprise Performance Management (EPM) approach to analytics and metrics, which enables business processes to support decision-making, forecasting, and workforce analysis — strategic activities that will allow applications to deliver. PeopleSoft's view is that the real-time enterprise needs these activities running apace with business processes, not as an afterthought — and not within analytic application silos. PeopleSoft wants to move beyond the current schism separating BI and processes. The real-time enterprise aspires to close the loop, linking operations with intelligence. EPM focuses on embedding analytics deeper into business processes, so that user dashboards, for example, can display the results of analysis and provide essential context supporting interaction with customer prospects. Closing the loop, the value proposition — the competitive edge — delivered by the software investment becomes unmistakable. MAJOR MOVES IN 2002· Acquired SkillsVillage to strengthen services procurement solutions · Released Supplier Relationship Management, specializing on vertical industry practices · Released AppConnect Suite, a solution integrating portal, application integration, and data warehouse technology INTELLIGENT ENTERPRISES· PepsiAmericas uses PeopleSoft 8 CRM to create 360-degree views of customers, and integrate with financials and human resources · London Drugs uses PeopleSoft Portal to connect with employees at all locations, dramatically reducing end-user training costs
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