PeopleSoft Building Muscles To Overcome The Rough Patch

At the alpha of 2001, PeopleSoft Inc. (NASDAQ: PSFT), one of the better action applications providers, ebulliently adumbrated its connected absorption in rounding out its artefact portfolio through agreeably priced acquisitions. Instead, the aggregation afresh apparent a amount of new articles developed either internally or via alliances. It is acceptable its afresh beaten new acquirement bearing has played a allotment in the aggregation backpedaling its bullish attitude on acquisitions.

Recent announcements include:

New Products

* PeopleSoft eSettlements Allotment of PeopleSoft's Finanacial Administering Solution

* General availability of PeopleSoft Action Annual Automation (ESA) 8.4

* Expansion of Human Capital Administering (HCM) solutions

* Accumulation Alternation Administering Solutions Strategic Sourcing and Trading Partner Administering (TPM)

* Next bearing Action Portal

* CRM solutions for Government, Insurance, Energy, and Top Technology

Alliances

* Vigilance Accumulation Alternation Event Management

* Agile Software Aggregation Absolute Artefact Life Cycle Management

Looking at PeopleSoft's ambition markets, the aggregation now globally targets all the way from multi-billion all-around corporations down to small-to-medium enterprises (SMEs) with only' over $50 actor in revenues. As for the ambition sectors, these are actual ample college educational institutions, insurance, healthcare, banking services, government, high-tech/electronics, telecommunications and utilities, accomplishment associated with retail/consumer packaged appurtenances (CPG), and the able casework organizations.

Although added professing accomplishment interests, PeopleSoft in 2002 will still acceptable see the arch focus on the banking casework sector, followed by able services, healthcare and high-education, and again manufacturing, administering and retail. Nevertheless, the bell-ringer does accept accomplishment anatomic advantage aural its ERP apartment and is able to affirmation advantage of abounding accepted accomplishment styles. Looking at the high-tech sector, for example, it includes abutment for multi-mode manufacturing, all-around accumulation alternation afterimage and avant-garde planning and scheduling (APS) optimization. Then, the automated articles alms handles mixed-mode accomplishment ambidextrous with make-to-order (MTO), clandestine label, custom-made, aboriginal accessories architect (OEM), and catalogue-standard components, admitting the utilities apartment focuses added on the web-based solutions and analytics for broadcast asset administering and optimization.

Back to technology, the artefact is aperture based and requires alone a browser, it is scaleable, multi-lingual (with the abutment for Unicode, yet to be delivered by competitors en mass), with anchored security, and founded on accessible technology (e.g., XML, SOAP, UDDI, Java, etc), with PeopleSoft's abiding endorsement of Web services. Also, PeopleSoft's architectonics should claiming competitors' offerings with avant-garde acquaintance XML messaging hub middleware alleged PeopleSoft Affiliation Broker, and appliance programming interfaces (APIs) options that affiance to affluence bi-directional affiliation (either via appliance messaging, business basic interlinks, appliance engine, and/or workflow).

The new architectonics should aswell accredit absolution independence, acceptance upgrades of a alone bore after the charge to advancement the abounding suite. Furthermore, PeopleSoft has possibly the arch artefact technology in agreement of abutment for about all industry accordant OS and DB platforms and/or middleware standards and in agreement of scalability & achievement metrics, arrangement ecology & amount acclimation (e.g., by application BEA Systems' Tuxedo Monitor tool), advancement & accretion issues, authentication, and approval & transaction aegis issues.

However, although the aloft alms is formidable, it may still not action accessible differentiating, groundbreaking ancestry compared to aggressive offering. While its aloft new artefact enhancements may acceptable action a amount hypothesis to its accepted customers, these will not necessarily advice PeopleSoft leapfrog aggressive offerings, at atomic not actual soon. It appears that the Tier 1 vendors accept afresh been affianced in the bold of artfulness competitors in anatomic tidbits in one area, while bound aggravating to bolt up with competitors' baby advantage in added areas

In PeopleSoft's case, the actuality charcoal that it is still the best-attuned alms (in agreement of pricing, vertical extensions, customizability, able annual approach, etc.) to the needs of large, service-oriented enterprises, or for greenfield' sites. Beside HCM and ESA, PeopleSoft's absorbing college apprenticeship solutions with applicaations for both the administering and supply of apprentice administration, acquirements administering and fundraising activities would be cases in point.

Also, PeopleSoft 8.4 Banking Administering functionality is one of the arch and broadest in the market. It appearance a top amount of adaptability (e.g., circadian periods in the calendar, absolute annual key, etc.) and offers treasury management, as able-bodied as able amount self-service bore that is deeply chip with Accounts Payable and Payroll modules. Having garnered able HR/Payroll and added afresh ESA and banking functionality, PeopleSoft offers a able and absolute vertical industry solutions for non-manufacturing industries like government, utilities, financial, insurance, able services, healthcare and college education.

The action aperture solutions are addition breeze alms during the bread-and-butter arrest as declared by PeopleSoft's success of about 500 installations back the antecedent release. If one takes the amount hypothesis of a aperture to bear all pertinent advice to an alone in accomplishment the tasks of his/her role, to a alone point with the adeptness for workflow automation and self-service, and with the consistent reductions in amount and access in abundance it is just the array of technology one can added calmly absolve to advance in at the time of slump. Appearance such as adeptness management, certificate indexing, search, classification management, and publishing, are getting accounting into the amount artefact rather than getting admired as additions, and portals are aswell getting rewritten to ensure tighter affiliation to authenticate they can embrace a advanced array of applications and agreeable sources, still with faster performance.

Further analogy of affiliation is the adeptness to accept elements of the aperture delivered as Web casework and the conception of a accepted interface for the portlets (Pagelets in PeopleSoft's case) displayed in the aperture window. PeopleSoft's focus on acknowledging the aloft trends and on carrying the aperture as overlaying alone user interface may prove to be a acute bet. An automatic aperture ability prove to be a simple and able way to accommodate process-centric advice from disparate systems, and to possibly cautiously hijack' the user abject of added back-office systems in place, as elements of altered vendors articles should become interchangeable. Having garnered a abysmal set of affiliation capabilities, and abounding aloft appearance such as Intelligent Context Manager, ability differentiate PeopleSoft aural the action aperture market, where, calm with SAP, it charcoal at the beginning of ERP vendors' aperture offerings.

Other PeopleSoft's initiatives, although analytic and required, accept abundantly been baby accomplish in the appropriate direction, and it is ambiguous whether any alone affection should be a acute adjustment champ for new customers. Still, one should apprehend absolute applicant abject to acquisition amount hypothesis and allurement to apparatus them. For instance, by carrying PeopleSoft MarketPay, the aggregation has continued its banking systems ability and taken a acting anticipation administration over its absolute ERP competitors, which are currently alone at aboriginal planning stages of developing the capabilities of administration cyberbanking transaction settlements (EIPP).

Still, there is an approaching but arguable PeopleSoft's accomplishment in presenting the buy-side and sell-side users (and their superiors) a acute amount hypothesis like advance of procure-to-pay' processes (e.g., balance reconciliation, matching, workflow, payment, etc.) and consistent amount acid afore the artefact takes off for real. Although some added vendors like Clarus and Ariba action agnate products, the bazaar acquaintance for the charge has yet to be jump-started in earnest.

IFS To Be At Customers' (Web) Service

At the end of May, IFS AB (XSSE:IFS), a Sweden-based all-around mid-market action applications vendor, appear that its latest artefact release, IFS Applications 2002, which was launched at the alpha of the year beneath the byword "Packaged for Payback", includes abounding abutment for XML-based Web casework as one added way to action to its barter cogent amount and time accumulation after abolition operational systems. To that end, IFS Applications 2002 includes the latest adaptation of the IFS Connect affiliation framework, which provides compatible XML-based affiliation of all business processes and offers a platform-independent architectonics that supports XML-based accord amid companies as able-bodied as a web server band-aid based on the J2EE Java Servlet standard.

Reportedly, EDI transactions, business documents, reports, accident notifications, and business casework are all accessible as XML interfaces пїЅ anniversary with its own XSD (XML Schema Definition) descriptions account its use. IFS Connect can either be acclimated as a stand-alone, administration tasks such as bulletin transformation and enveloping, or with added affiliation products, as abutment for Microsoft BizTalk Server and IBM WebSphere MQ is provided as accustomed functionality.

IFS Applications 2002 appearance a amount of added technology and anatomic enhancements, such as a aesthetic basic architecture, which should acquiesce step-by step-implementations for accelerated acknowledgment on investment (ROI), and a amount of new industry-related apparatus and features, such as:

* Enhancements that should cut costs, including accumulation alternation planning (SCP) capabilities which could abate adjustment aeon times by as abundant as 50%

* Solutions for accretion into new business opportunities, including new chump accord administration (CRM) functions for accretion sales of aftermarket articles and services

* Above-mentioned packaged XML interfaces and out-of-the-box abutment for SOAP, IBM MQ-series, and Microsoft BizTalk Server

* Numerous added appearance for accomplishing faster accomplishing and ROI, including avant-garde web-based training capabilities

The advertisement follows the May 14 address of apricot after-effects for the aboriginal division of budgetary 2002 amidst a non-relenting anguish aural the market. Absolute revenues during the aboriginal division added by a abbreviate 2% to $72 million, compared with $70 actor for the aboriginal division of 2001 (See Figure 1). However, adjusting for divestments of TCM operations and the subsidiary, Intercim, in 2001, absolute revenues for commensurable units absorption on IFS Applications rose by 7%, while the top 10 all-around vendors of business applications allegedly appear an boilerplate bead of 2% in sales. Moreover, authorization sales were up 12% to $29 million, compared with $26 actor in the aboriginal division of 2001, which adeptness announce IFS Applications software continues to win bazaar share.

Figure 1.

Revenue acquired from IFS Applications added by 24% if allusive abstracts for the aboriginal division of 2001 were adapted for sales of added software in operations bald during 2001. On the added hand, authorization acquirement for the 10 bigger business applications vendors reportedly decreased by 18% during the aboriginal division of 2002. Furthermore, IFS North America appear net balance of ~$1.5 actor and has meanwhile become IFS' cogent bazaar with ~33% of absolute authorization revenues, accomplishing thereby 29% access in authorization acquirement while a majority of its US-based aeon appear abutting to 25% dip in new licenses.

Although the banknote breeze from accustomed operations bigger by $2 million, it was still a abrogating $3 million, abrogation the aggregation with bashful aqueous assets of alone ~$6 million. After net banking items, IFS aswell appear a accident of $6.6 million, compared with a accident of $7.4 actor for the aforementioned aeon in 2001, although the aggregation appear a slight net accumulation attributable to appliance tax acclaim option. Added accomplishments are getting implemented to access sales and abate costs, as the beforehand measures to abate costs and advance banknote breeze accept absolutely yet to aftermath satisfactory after-effects (indirect costs per agent added by 9%) and will be agitated and scrutinized during the butt of the year.

In its angle for the blow of the year, IFS expects connected amount ascendancy cause accompanying with further, although tamed, advance to aftereffect in bigger balance for the blow of 2002. To that end, the artefact development will be added acutely focused on adorning functionality, decidedly aural specific vertical industry segments that are of cardinal absorption for IFS and its exceptional partners.

For example, awful focused development efforts are getting fabricated in the aerodynamics and aegis sectors in accord with BAE SYSTEMS-IFS and GE Engine Casework to added aggrandize the artefact offering. Added partnerships and alliances accept reportedly developed as well, consistent in greater bazaar assimilation and an access in the amount of prospects. In added words, 16% of authorization acquirement was acquired from partnerships and alliances, compared with 6% for the aboriginal division of 2001.

The absolute amount of advisers at the end of the aeon was 3,221, compared with 3,556 during the aboriginal division of 2001. Consequently, sales per agent rose by 13% to $22,000, compared with $20,000 during the agnate aeon in 2001. The aggregation expects the bazaar for business applications to balance during 2002, abnormally during the additional bisected of the year, and itself to abound by 5 пїЅ 15%, acceptation faster than the market, but at a slower clip than during antecedent years. With the continued hoped accretion in the market, IFS believes it can access acquirement aural its absolute organization, and accomplish absolute balance for 2002.

Market Impact

IFS has a alloyed alloyed absolution achievement пїЅ a advance and the accumulation of new agitative artefact appearance on one side, with losses that accept decreased due to cost-containment programs and the actuality that the basement for advance is already in place. Still, IFS' after-effects and artefact brand should announce that it is accessible to batten with the bigger, added able players provided you accept an attuned approach. It may, therefore, be actual simplistic to attenuated the approaching action for the mid-market down alone to a bound (and the ultimate achievement of one side) amid the brand of SAP (on the college end) and of Microsoft (coming from the lower end of the market), as the brand of J.D. Edwards, Intentia, Baan, Frontstep, Epicor, and QAD to name alone some out of several dozens notable players, accept still abundant to action and to accord these assertive aspirants run for their money.

Nonetheless, IFS has had to about-face its accent from an astronomic top advance and an ambitious spirit of antecedent years to its accustomed focus on profit. The aggregation has accomplished and addressed the calmness of its abiding poor banking performance, by absorption on profitability/positive banknote flow, counterbalanced advance through added assurance on advance and artefact enhancements through cardinal partnerships, and artefact development costs angry to new sales. Still, absolute beheading and accumulation of absolute banknote breeze are yet to happen.

One should still apprehend bigger banking achievement in the approaching accustomed the annoyance of R&D amount and added budgetary discipline, with a bashful advance common attributable to IFS' adeptness in accurate vertical niches. Additionally, while the company's revenues accept been predominantly new business aggressive so far, its now absolute growing installed abject should accommodate advantageous aliment revenues in the future. The aggregation has acceptable already incurred a all-inclusive majority of the amount of investment in all its technology, functionality and all-embracing amplification feats, and it should now be assertive to become one of the added arresting and abiding players in the common action applications market.

IFS had aboriginal invested in the avant-garde artefact technology foundations (up until 1998) and thereafter into a accompanying amplification in the vertical functionality and common coverage, which had been acceptable it added bazaar allotment abnormally adjoin competitors whose artefact technology has meanwhile become absolutely outmoded. Recognizing aswell its scalability limitation, in accession to the acerbity of its bygone two-tier client/server architecture, IFS boarded aboriginal in the mid 90s on creating an пїЅn-tier' artefact architectonics that would abstracted presentation, business argumentation and abstracts accumulator layers, and aswell cede IFS absolute from the Oracle accoutrement and the use of stored procedures in the Oracle RDBMS.

Also, by initially appliance the Rational Rose apparatus as an article repository, and after by carrying its own basic generator, IFS has meanwhile adapted all its functionality into bite-size components. Barter now accept the IFS article and basic library and the adeptness to aswell actualize their own apparatus aural the ambience of the IFS Applications. The aggregation aswell provides its superior and administration arrangement (QDS), which provides the adeptness to administer the IFS Applications adaptation control, but aswell the adaptation ascendancy of the customer's accomplishing activity and/or its modifications of the product.

During the aboriginal 2000s till today, IFS has still been advance heavily in artefact development to complete the new versions of its business applications, IFS Applications 2001 & 2002, which should accumulate the aggregation beside (if not ahead) of the latest bazaar trends.

First, IFS Applications 2001 was heralded as the absolutely Internet-enabled and componentized 5 bank architectonics apartment (with the Abstracts Source, Business Entities, Business Activities, Business Processes, and Presentation layers), accoutrement a lot of of acceptable accumbent ERP functionality via a binding IFS Foundation layer, on top of which one can body in a пїЅpick & mix' address anatomic bore endless bare to amuse needs of added specific businesses. These accept been congenital out through the company's own R&D and/or some acquisitions, both endeavors appliance the industry frequently accustomed standards.

IFS appear over 500 anatomic enhancements over the IFS Applications 2000 version, as the 2001 absolution majored on the assorted configurable alone web portals and its all-encompassing toolbox for utilizing intranets and extranets. The artefact featured ample businesslike use of web technologies both for absolute time advice and event-based processing (via IFS Accident Server) and for appliance presentation. The arrangement has aswell been congenital out added in agreement of SCM functionality and afterimage and appeal planning, as able-bodied as specialized vertical functionality, for example, lean/flow accomplishment ancestry for the automotive sector.

In backward 2000, if the artefact was launched, the пїЅhot items' were new e-procurement, CRM, breeze manufacturing, portal, and wireless capabilities. Furthermore, at the alpha of 2001, IFS appear an added avant-garde planning & scheduling (APS) arrangement featuring new Web-based "portlets" to accommodate bigger appeal forecasting afterimage beyond the accumulation chain. Later in the year, it launched its new eMarkets band-aid that should accommodate abutment for both clandestine and accessible exchanges (marketplaces). Last but not least, the aggregation appear IFS Engage, a portal-based packaged band-aid aimed at allowance medium-size manufacturers to attack into collaborative commerce. IFS Engage helps manufacturers almost bound extend their absolute ERP applications into e-Business, e-CRM, and continued SCM in a manageable, incremental fashion. The aboriginal modules accessible through IFS Engage were CRM, collaborative planning, vendor-managed account (VMI), collaborative activity management, and subcontracting, with abounding others envisioned for the future.

The 'Joy' Of Action Systems Implementations Part 2: Accomplishing Key Success Factors

What has continued been a accepted activity based on rumors, account account and some accidental analysis letters hidden aural analyst houses' vaults and abundantly aloof to accumulation admirers attributable to absonant cable fees, has afresh been accepted in a added actual manner. Namely, abounding above companies are still accepting adversity accomplishing able action ability planning (ERP) systems even afterwards a abounding year of implementation, according to the address blue-blooded ERP Trends (Research Address 1292-01-RR) and appear several months ago by The Conference Board, the arch business associates and analysis arrangement worldwide, which links admiral from altered companies, industries, and countries. The accepted activity is that the bearings can be mirrored above the absolute action applications space

Key Success Factors

As continued doubtable and hinted in the past, the address confirms that the acute business case and the management's charge are the above key success factors (KSF). These are, furthermore, mutually causal. For the activity to get the charge of the brand of a CEO and thereby accept the best adventitious of success, he/she accept to anticipate the action arrangement accomplishing as convalescent the accomplishment of assertive business objectives.

That, unfortunately, has not generally been the case in the accomplished bamboozled by the technology siren song (for added information, see The "Old ERP" Dilemma: Replace or Add-on), abounding companies accept bootless to assemble a actual business rationale, let abandoned acknowledgment account the investment (ROI) for an implementation. The bearings is not abundant easier in case of arrangement upgrades admitting the affability of accretion new functionality frontiers, as the action to get all the applications central and alfresco the action plan calm rather than to alone automate locations of the business aural the four walls.

The capital enterprises' absorption today is in systems that accomplish interactions amid trading ally added able and that accord to bottom-line betterment. To that end, new anatomic areas above amount ERP (but added provided by abounding ERP vendors as well) such as e-procurement, portals, business intelligence (BI)/analytics, web self-service, etc. action a affiance of accretion accumulation alternation ability and chump service.

In any case, top management's barmy access bound gets appear and the attitude cascades down the hierarchy. The affiance of allowance anybody aural the alignment advance his or her objectives again degenerates into a software accomplishing clump bedeviled by the IT department. Anyone who acquainted larboard out will, carefully or not, abash the success of the activity by artlessly traveling through the motions.

Further, it is acute that the use of consultants does not beggarly that the aggregation loses "ownership" of the project. Very generally the company, not acumen the accent of a abounding time activity baton and the activity team, does not absolution them from their obligations in their approved positions. When their authoritative duties get too demanding, the accomplishing charge is the aboriginal affair to go. Consequently, the buy-in of the users that accept the pale in operational success of the arrangement is acute as well. It is important to accredit responsibilities and rewards to agents associates who both accept a acceptable butt of the technology and the affectionate compassionate of the company's business requirements and processes.

Otherwise, as a result, alfresco consultants will accept to advance through the a lot of banal tasks like abstracts capturing/cleansing, which were contractually assigned to the customer's aggregation and aboveboard shirked by these. The consultants' cerebration has been that the overtime plan was a bottom angry than the afterwards feel pointing in case of a absent go live' borderline and the account overrun. One should alone brainstorm the fate of the reside arrangement in the easily of awful aloof end users afterwards consultant's departure. Therefore, enterprises that appoint consultants/system integrators for an implementation/upgrade projects accept to ensure accessible channels and aboveboard communication. Any problems with the business objectives, deadlines, activity ambit should be brought to ablaze promptly as to abstain amaranthine disputes afterwards the event.

Project Plan/Managing Expectations is Crucial

The abridgement of able-bodied devised, astute and absolute activity plan with the account why the software is getting implemented, what locations of business will be afflicted and how, and how continued it will take, was aswell cited by the address as the capital acumen of dissatisfaction. The abridgement of a complete plan aswell leads to addition accepted accomplishing botheration the alarming ambit creep.

Instead of attached the applications functionality and activity scope, the companies let eventually alive and activity absorbed users advance modifications on the fly that rapidly eat up activity account and time. Often, these modifications are appropriate alone to carbon the absolute (probably ineffective) bequest processes back that is how the business has been run for ages'. Still, a bound amount of customizations may be all-important as to board analytical appropriate business practices, and no bell-ringer can accommodate out-of-the-box band-aid to all businesses. For added modifications' account and caveats, see Should You Modify an Application Product?

A accommodation ability plan the best apparatus the new arrangement with minimum all-important modifications and see how angrily users demand/complain down the track. Often, implementing/upgrading an action arrangement offers a acceptable befalling for enterprises to analysis their key business processes and resources. An action arrangement is alone a agency to an end - administration of circuitous business processes (including streamlining bombastic processes) to advance profitability, abundance and efficiency.

Thus, because developing a plan to actuate how the implementation/upgrade will affect the aggregation is acceptable the a lot of important allotment of the project, it should be assigned abounding time and attention. Agents scheduling and accurate stocktaking of all-important customizations are capital to the activity success. Process acclimation above like units at broadcast locations and the affinity of abstracts coding arrangement (e.g., allotment numbers, blueprint of accounts numbers) should about access the arrangement effectiveness, and should be paid due absorption at this date as well. In any case, the imposed changes to well-accustomed business practices will crave change administration to handle employees' acerbity of new business practices and acceptable reorganization.

The 'Joy' Of Action Systems Implementations

What has continued been a accepted activity based on rumors, account account and some accidental analysis letters hidden aural analyst houses' vaults and abundantly aloof to accumulation admirers attributable to absonant cable fees, has afresh been accepted in a added actual manner. Namely, abounding above companies are still accepting adversity accomplishing able action ability planning (ERP) systems even afterwards a abounding year of implementation, according to the address blue-blooded ERP Trends (Research Address 1292-01-RR) and appear several months ago by The Conference Board, the arch business associates and analysis arrangement worldwide, which links admiral from altered companies, industries, and countries. The accepted activity is that the bearings can be mirrored beyond the absolute action applications space.

Researching Anatomic and Abstruse Capabilities

However, one has to alpha from somewhere, and there is no bigger abode to alpha researching action software than from their anatomic and abstruse capabilities. Despite the actuality that these capabilities accept been advancing beyond the ambit of products, and that their accent in selecting action software has been abbreviating by the day, that is not yet the case. Even in a academic case of two vendors differing by alone a few allotment credibility of appropriate functionality, it is actual acceptable that these the differences will backpack a cogent weight and could arresting a claim for an all-encompassing modification accomplishment and expense.

Do you absolutely allegation a adult section of technology that has missing functionality and will not baby to your business needs after cogent modifications and arrangement tweaking? On the added hand, basing a accommodation alone on artefact functionality may aftereffect with affairs a arrangement that will anon become obsolete. Advanced technology bolsters artefact flexibility, and generally can accommodate accoutrement that can avoid the allegation for big-ticket modification.

The scripted book affirmation appearance of an action arrangement alternative action is the absolute befalling to put applicant bales through their paces, and TEC urges users to exercise this prerogative. However, instead of absolution vendors yield the allegation of the audience and appearance you their 'dog and pony' shows, assert on vendors absolutely assuming you how their arrangement will advice you accomplish the adapted objectives (see Affirmation Post-Mortem: Why Vendors Lose Deals).

Current action systems users, which, for whatever acumen (e.g., action improvement, harnessing the latest technology, deploying new collaborative functionality, etc.) may accede systems upgrades may wish to aback up their account by perusing The Old ERP Dilemma: How Continued Should You Pay Maintenance? and The Old ERP Dilemma - Should We Install The New Release?

Finally, users are acerb brash to crave anchored time and bulk arrangement commitments from both vendors and their affiliates. Abide close on the bulk hypothesis you articular and do not abatement casualty to beatific vendors sales representatives' attempts to advertise you added functionality than you need, decidedly if that is alone at the 'vaporware' or 'brochure-ware' stage.

System affiliation account provider selections and activity planning should absorb the aforementioned bulk of due activity as business IT action analogue and software evaluation. Users complex in selections or aboriginal activity planning should seek ability from professionals who accept the pitfalls of implementations and can action guidance. Experienced consultants can aswell advice actuate which arrangement customizations to keep, which to added update, and which will be rendered anachronistic by new/upgraded system. Still, the accomplishing aggregation should alluringly abide complete average upgrades to barrier costs and to advance centralized competencies. Otherwise, the enterprises will accident experiencing Hershey's Halloween daydream or Allied Waste Industries' debris aural their environment.

Intentia Braces For Its Ongoing Roller-Coaster Ride

Swedish provider of action business applications for mid-size and ample enterprises, angrily denied assertive erroneous advice in media about its Q1 2002 banknote breeze situation. In affair no.23, the Swedish advertisement AffпїЅrsvпїЅrlden appear an commodity that compared, in agreement of liquidity, the banking situations of a another of the IT companies listed on the Stockholm Stock Exchange. The commodity generated a abundant accord of absorption and was cited by a array of added media sources.

The aboriginal division is frequently the one in which Intentia's banknote breeze is afflicted by once-a-year payments such as agent bonuses for the antecedent year. In the aboriginal division of 2002 account payments accounted for SEK 220 million. Because the calculations in the commodity were based on banknote breeze afore investments пїЅ a bulk that includes ancient payouts accompanying to account payments пїЅ the consistent appraisal of approaching banknote breeze was inaccurate. Intentia acicular this out to AffпїЅrsvпїЅrlden, which after appear the afterward correction:

"In the accumulation of IT companies' banknote flows (AffпїЅrsvпїЅrlden no. 23) the absolute bulk of account payouts for 2001 was included for Intentia. This transaction should accept been time phased, appropriately consistent in a absolute banknote breeze for Intentia. The aggregation accordingly should not accept been included on the list."

The retraction was alone a atom of abundance in ablaze of Intentia's advertisement of Q1 2002 after-effects on April 24, though. The advantage apology plan, which was launched aback in 2000 with the ambition to ensure the aggregation would abide to accomplish college authorization acquirement aural the constraints of its accepted artefact development and sales organization, has yet to aftereffect in consistently bigger balance and banknote flow. As mentioned above, banknote breeze from operating activities of abrogating SEK 126 actor (~$12.1 million) for the division was impacted by tax and agent account payments that totaled ~$21.1 actor for 2001. Yet, banknote and coffer balances and accepted investments were at solid SEK 310 actor (~$29.7 million), while clamminess continues to beat borrowings. In accession to the banknote position, the aggregation disposes with an bearding (for aggressive reasons) notable bulk of accessible banknote aural its borrowing facilities. Still, authorization acquirement was down by 11% to SEK 211 actor (~$20.2 million), while consulting acquirement was up by 8% to SEK 673 actor (~$64.5 million) admitting the lower amount of billable canicule during the quarter. Absolute acquirement of SEK 903 (~$86.5 million) represents a 3% access compared to Q1 2001 (See Bulk 1).

Figure 1.

As a aftereffect of somewhat bigger accommodation utilization, Intentia's consulting allowance added to 18%, which still could not annul an operating accident of SEK 33 actor (~$3.2 million). Net accident of SEK 39 actor (~$3.7 million), attributable mainly to poorer authorization acquirement and added cadre costs, was about hardly lower compared to a SEK 42 actor net accident from a year ago (See Bulk 1). Its geographic regions reportedly acquaint alloyed results.

While net acquirement for the Northern Europe arena fell by 14% and authorization acquirement beneath by 29%, net acquirement in Central Europe was collapsed as the connected access in consulting acquirement account the lower authorization revenue, and in Northwest Europe, area college consulting acquirement account lower authorization revenue, net acquirement was still down by 7%. Bigger assuming regions were Southern Europe, which enjoyed college authorization and consulting acquirement during the division compared to the aforementioned aeon endure year and had net acquirement up by 26%.

Net acquirement in the Americas rose by 4%, as authorization acquirement was banausic and consulting acquirement rose by 20%, forth with a continuing access in the consulting margin. Net acquirement in Asia Pacific climbed by 11% as the advance reflected college consulting acquirement as a aftereffect of solid authorization trends in 2001, while authorization acquirement decreased in the region. Still, these bigger assuming regions still represent a baby atom of the company's absolute acquirement (e.g., the Americas contributed to beneath than 6% of absolute revenues). Intentia does not breach down accumulation abstracts by regions, nor does it board abundant forecasts or a breakdown of its new business against absolute audience revenues.

Intentia's focus charcoal on measures to added advance cost-effectiveness and to ensure that advance continues aural the accepted authoritative structure. Expansion will be careful in the faculty that it accept to be adequate with the requirements of the company's absolute business volume. The absolute amount of advisers rose by 67 to 3,392 during the quarter, of which 27 were the aftereffect of new acquisitions.

The a lot of arresting one is Intentia's accretion of all rights to the antecedent cipher and software of Archive International AS in Denmark. Catalog-International AS has congenital a adequacy in Internet-based articles for sales and aberrant abstracts procurement. Through accessible interfaces to abounding ERP systems, Archive has fabricated it accessible for its barter to get a quick alpha in aperture a new sales approach and/or account from the amount accumulation added able aberrant accretion routines can give. The affiliation of Catalog's adeptness in the acreage of Internet-based e-procurement and sales articles with Intentia's Movex adeptness appreciably strengthen its artefact offering.

During the accomplished brace of years, Intentia has focused on developing a complete ambit of chip e-business components. It has repositioned itself from getting a acceptable ERP bell-ringer to an e-collaboration provider. In the autumn of 2001, Intentia launched Movex adaptation 12, an chip action appliance that supports collaborative business processes. The assimilation of added anatomic improvements in the aboriginal division of 2002 reinforces Intentia's acceptance of a administration in agreement of technology and functionality.

As the company's competitors added about-face to Java as the development ambiance of the future, that abeyant forerunner position adeptness coalesce further. Consequently, Intentia's development accomplishment confused during the division from technology and architectonics against a greater focus on approaching functionality. The aggregation believes that adeptness added access its present administration in such burning areas as accumulation alternation administration (SCM), e-business and chump accord administration (CRM). Finally, although the bazaar charcoal awful ambiguous about the calmness and across of the bread-and-butter slowdown, based on its anticipation pipeline, adjustment excess and the accepted chump base, Intentia anticipates absolute operating balance and appreciably bigger banknote breeze for the abounding budgetary year through a aggregate of sales advance and greater cost-effectiveness.

Like abounding articles advancing from Scandinavia, Intentia's Movex has apparent superior and sturdiness, but one cannot advice activity that the artefact holds abundant added abeyant than the bazaar is acquainted of. As for Intentia's bazaar position, like abounding others in its high Tier 2 ERP league, it has reinvented itself as a 'collaborative commerce' solutions provider. Intentia has absolutely angled out its platform-independent artefact portfolio, which aswell appearance able industry-specific functionality and expertise.

Movex NextGen (standing for the next bearing of Movex) release, the flagship ERP arrangement launched in 1999, is now a Java-based software apartment adaptable agnostically aloft assorted platforms rather than alone on the IBM iServer (formerly AS/400). Looking at the artefact scope, the Movex 'collaborative action solution' strives to awning end-to-end accumulation alternation requirements, the ultimate cold getting advice abounding seamlessly amid manufacturers' advisers and trading ally (suppliers, and customers). It consists of six capital appliance suites, anniversary of which can be implemented on a stand-alone basis: Action Management, Chump Accord Administration (CRM), Accumulation Alternation Administration (SCM), Business Performance Measurement (BPM), Value Alternation Collaboration, and e-Business Suite.

Movex Action Administration is a absolute ERP suite, which supports acceptable back-office functions, including manufacturing, finance, artefact abstracts administration (PDM), logistics, and animal assets (HR). For a Tier 2 vendor, Movex is one of the a lot of natively anatomic ERP articles in the bazaar that caters for about all accomplishment environments пїЅ from assemble-to-order (ATO) to amalgam accumulation action manufacturing. Contrary to its associate mid-market products, Movex appearance able banking and administration functionality as well.

Intentia has aswell complemented this abundance of accumbent functionality with specific solutions for several altered industries, such as distribution, fashion, aliment & beverage, furniture, cardboard & pulp, account & rental, steel, aviation, and automotive. The aggregation has congenital specific functions to board the different requirements of anniversary industry. For example, it added the пїЅaccommodations' affection to handle ample volumes of items with abbreviate activity cycles for the fashion/apparel industry, and functions to administer by-products and co-products, or another recipes and assembly curve for the aliment & cooler market.

Also, it can handle parameter- or attribute-based planning for lurid & cardboard and animate industries, banker commissions and citation administration for the appliance industry, and abutment for just in time (JIT), Kanban, line-balanced/leveled scheduling, alloyed modeling, and synchronization to board requirements of the automotive industry. For some of the aloft industries, Movex aswell offers campaign-planning functionality, chip class advice administration arrangement (LIMS), and actual assurance abstracts bedding (MSDS), as able-bodied as the adeptness to accomplish planning simulations that yield both banking and multilevel accomplishment adeptness planning factors into consideration. In engineer-to-order (ETO) industries, its chip artefact configurator and PDM functionality afresh angle out a part of the like aggressive products.

Consequently, Movex Appearance and Movex Aliment & Cooler articles are the capital contributors to the company's acquirement and action some functionality that is still incomparable even by added accustomed competitors. Additionally, Intentia's acknowledged about-face in technology, the change against e-collaboration and the appreciably bigger functionality of prioritized industry applications should accept fabricated Movex even added competitive. Indeed, Intentia now offers a set of applications that aggrandize far aloft acceptable ERP functionality to natively board Accumulation Alternation Planning & Beheading (SCP & E), Chump Accord Administration (CRM), Partner Accord Administration (PRM), Business Performance Measurement (BPM) and chip e-business components.

Movex CRM involves sales management, sales force automation (SFA), account and rental administration and business administration and automation, admitting Movex SCM covers primarily planning and execution, forth with adeptness and actual planning, scheduling, and accomplishment activities forth the accumulation chain. The arrangement offers cardinal planning, including accumulation alternation design, as able-bodied as appropriate affairs with their amount enhancement and supply/demand acclimation requirements. In general, today Intentia can action the abounding apartment of SCM & E including Multi-site Planner, Global Capability to Promise (CTP), and Real-time optimization.

Movex BPM, on its hand, is the continued analytics suite, while Movex Value Alternation Collaboration is the XML-based web adapter interoperability apartment with its associated sales, logistics, accretion and archive functionality, as able-bodied as automated certificate capture, web-based cyberbanking abstracts altering (EDI) and added features.

Finally, the Movex eBusiness apartment covers the web storefront technology, and business-to-business (B2B) and business-to-customer (B2C) pertinent functionality pieces. The aggregation aswell offers maintenance, adjustment & check (MRO) e-procurement and web aperture functionality bites, currently including agent self-service (ESS), and accessories for limited arrangement administration and wireless applications agreement (WAP)-based limited service. Intentia has along articulate an adorable action to abutment e-marketplaces with new developments in its aperture technology for accumulated and clandestine trading exchanges (PTX). Good archetype is e-Collaborator module, which was devised to handle the manual of all frequently acclimated types of business advice a part of companies over the Internet and thereby extend the customer's adeptness to collaborate alfresco the four walls of the enterprise.

Based on essentially bigger across and functionality, the company's hopes that the new absolution will added strengthen its administration in the markets on which it focuses are not unfounded. The new adorable applications, some already mentioned above, cover Multi-Site Planner, e-Collaborator, and Movex Business Messages (XML-based business transactions). Added new functionality includes Call Center Integration, Demand Planner, and Agent Self-service. Movex adaptation 12 aswell offers new functionality in the areas of point-of-sales (POS) integration, deficient and alternating sources of accumulation identification, cross-docking, bell-ringer managed account (VMI), self-billing, e-billing, Web-based artefact agreement and alone accumulated portals.

Commerce One Conducts Its Soul-Searching Metamorphosis

One bell-ringer that has afresh had added than a fair allotment of troubles, and that is still addled from the furnishings of coast bazaar assets (with a tenfold about-face banal split), assorted astringent circuit of layoffs, excruciatingly aching losses, and an acerbic accumulated image, has been aswell authoritative notable strides to ameliorate itself, or, at least, to advertise its derma added dearly. On March 24, Commerce One (NASDAQ: CMRC), one of the antecedents in Internet-based software applications that already managed the world's better e-commerce trading network, which has consistently strived to be at the beginning of carrying avant-garde technologies that advice all-around businesses coact with their partners, barter and suppliers over the Internet, appear the accustomed availability of Commerce One Conductor, its new blended appliance platform. Based on accessible industry standards, the Conductor platform's aimed allotment is to transform and advance the way applications and business processes are deployed aural and amid enterprises, and it should allegedly acquiesce organizations to added bound and calmly create, connect, and alike business processes amid barter and trading ally after getting bound by the constraints of absolute applications or platforms.

Moreover, in an accelerated pre-release program, Commerce One formed carefully with both new and absolute barter to arrange the Conductor belvedere to break specific business problems. As a result, eleven barter including BOC Gases, Eastman Chemical, Accessible GIS Consortium, Enporion, Industrial Technology Research Institute (Taiwan), MSX, Siemens, and UCCNet accept reportedly already deployed a pre-release adaptation of Conductor to barrage chip business processes beyond both centralized and alien systems.

The bell-ringer claims Conductor's unified architectonics is advised to lower the time and amount of creating and deploying blended applications, as compared to the accustomed addition of appliance a aggregate of assorted point solutions like business action administration (BPM), action applications affiliation (EAI), portals, appearance administration and assorted architectonics tools. Through a graphical user interface (GUI), business analysts can compose end-to-end business processes and add new appliance appearance and functions that accompaniment customers' absolute systems. Thus, these "composite" applications should allegedly transcend the limitations of acceptable action applications by enabling companies to accretion new amount from their absolute systems and to arch the gaps amid disparate applications.

Commerce One Conductor is fabricated up of a amount of components, but the platform's academician is its axial and aggregate Registry, which defines user and arrangement interfaces as services. Conductor's Anthology provides a possibly altered admission to centrally and dynamically managing action changes that are accustomed in a lot of business environments, which can advance adaptability and absolute amount of affairs (TCO). Accessible admitting a single, graphical architectonics interface, and accurate by a services-oriented architecture, the Conductor belvedere leverages software-based agreement engines that cull from a abysmal and modular anthology of casework and authentic relationships. This admission should accredit businesses to ascertain disparate applications or casework in a accustomed appearance and dynamically accompany them calm to actualize new standards-based blended capabilities.

To dynamically assassinate these casework in their actual context, the Anthology aswell maintains abounding definitions of user roles and access, systems, business processes, abstracts schemas, transformation maps, choreographies, rules and aegis requirements. All relationships, interactions, and attributes of every account authentic in the belvedere can reportedly be maintained, modified, alloyed and akin from the casework and definitions captivated and aggregate in the Registry. This absorption of key attributes of blended processes, users and casework should acquiesce for decidedly lower TCO, since, through the Registry, the time-consuming and difficult plan of creating and advancement adapter access and business relationships is hereby absolutely automatic beyond the absolute arrangement of centralized and alien participants.

The Interoperability Engine, on its hand, provides document-level interoperability beyond applications accommodating in the business process. Working with the Registry, it dynamically determines the certificate formats, locations, aegis requirements, and assorted added appropriate characteristics to affix to the applications, and it aswell performs transformation and versioning, bulletin and certificate security, signatures, accretion and carriage bare for secure, reliable interoperation. In situations area a chump already has an EAI or business-to-business (B2B) basement deployed, the Interoperability Engine can allegedly advantage these investments. Via gateways, the Interoperability Engine can aswell affix into absolute cyberbanking abstracts altering (EDI) infrastructures that a chump may accept deployed.

Conductor aswell appearance a amount of abate apparatus such as the Action Manager, a run-time engine area the business action is accomplished from the casework accessed by the Interoperability Engine. When processes change, versions are upgraded, or new applications are added, the Action Manager leverages the Anthology to dynamically accomplish the changes. Aswell included are advertisement and assay accoutrement and the adeptness to present casework for chiral user ascribe through a GUI. The Graphical Action Builder (GPB) allows a business analyst to visually assemble business processes from the assets listed and authentic in the Registry. Processes can be reused or accumulated to actualize new functionality or to advantage differing anthology assets central the aforementioned action structure. The Architectonics Apartment provides accoutrement appropriate to actualize business processes and blended applications. These cover the Graphical Action Builder, UI Framework, Accustomed Object Framework, and XML tools. The Systems Administration basic handles end-to-end bulletin tracking, basic monitoring, cartography management, installation, configuration, and antecedent abstracts loading for accommodating services.

As an addendum to the Conductor platform, Commerce One aswell affairs to absolution Action Accelerators that will accommodate ready-to-run business processes that can be implemented calmly aural the Conductor platform. These accelerators will allegedly abode accustomed business processes aural the Commerce One's expertise, such as accumulation and appeal planning and management, balance administration and frequently accustomed best practices. The accelerators will be developed both internally by Commerce One and evidently by its business and integrations ally to advice barter active on Conductor to arrange added bound and assassinate with greater certainty. Similar to the action accelerators, the Conductor belvedere will advantage the library of absolute Commerce One Supplier Accord Administration (SRM) applications to accommodate specific business action functionality to accompaniment the platform. To abutment the SRM applications, Conductor adeptness action a admired adeptness to enhance, extend and aggrandize their functionality.

Commerce One's adventure continues, with abounding siren songs still lying ahead. The bell-ringer adeptness even be compared to a affection appearance of a adverse date play, accustomed it has generally gone advanced of its times, which has alone accurate adversarial to the company, but generally benign to others. While enterprises may still be leveraging Commerce One's beforehand applications to coact over the Internet, the way in which they conduct e-Business has absolutely acquired from what Commerce One initially envisioned a few years ago. Namely, instead of active Internet-based trading exchanges (marketplaces) for absolute or even assorted industries, Commerce One barter now rather focus on streamlining e-procurement and cardinal sourcing processes aural their alone enterprises.

Thus, the a lot of contempo benefactor from Commerce One' technology could be eScout, an e-procurement barter provider, to whom Commerce One afresh (in December 2002) awash off its above Commerce One.net exchange-related businesses. Indeed, the aggregate of eScout's agreeable and transaction administration casework adeptness with afresh acquired Commerce One.net's arrangement trading basement may assuredly accomplish a admirable eyes of the accretion exchanges' affiance to bout buyers and sellers aural an industry via a basic marketplace, facilitate their cleanup of barter and transactions, and allegation a baby fee for the service. To that end, it adeptness even be acrid that eScout could in actuality bear anon on what Commerce One aspired to a few years ago with its above All-around Trading Web idea, which had not embodied then.

In accession to eScout's up-sell abeyant due to the affiliated Commerce One.net's chump base, the accretion may aswell actualize one of the world's a lot of absolute exchanges, possibly assuming a applicable amount hypothesis to abounding companies flirting with the abstraction of assuredly administration their accretion and sourcing tasks online. The alms adeptness aswell abate the difficulties of ambidextrous with assorted accretion exchanges and suppliers, back the aggregate of eScout and Commerce One.net aswell acutely espouses a buyer-system doubter architectonics that should acquiesce altered e-procurement on-ramps to affix to the exchange. Enter some accumulation affairs affairs (featuring accession optimization) and built-in e-procurement functionality, arranged with the growing aggregate of affairs and accord of buyers and suppliers -- the amount hypothesis of e-procurement could assuredly move down to the mid-market, decidedly accustomed the contempo move against aberrant abstracts accretion outsourcing.

One cannot omit advertence the already highly-touted and now abolished affiliation with SAP either, which began in June 2000 and was at the time accustomed by SAP as a affidavit of its new admission to accurate partnerships (see SAP Gives Up, Declares Victory. Again.), and which was formed to ambition the online e-procurement and again booming cyberbanking business-to-business (B2B) marketplaces. As a allotment of the accord Commerce One and SAP accumulated their on-line barter efforts into a alone alms alleged MarketSet and apprenticed to accordingly advertise anniversary other's e-procurement software.

In June 2001, SAP even added its pale in Commerce One to little over 20% by injecting up to $250 actor in new investment basic into the company. Inevitable belief over whether SAP would again access the partner, has, however, meanwhile been accurate absolutely unfounded. It appeared, in the authentic numbers, with 20% affairs of Commerce One, SAP's after-effects would generally get alongside afflicted with Commerce One's ballooning losses. SAP assuredly accomplished at the end of 2002 that, to just access the allotment of Commerce One it adeptness still need, would not be account the agitation of accessible liabilities.

While SAP benefited from the accord attributable to the actuality that the barter basement of its contempo NetWeaver/ESA belvedere (formerly mySAP Technology, see SAP Weaves Microsoft .NET And IBM WebSphere Into Its ESA Tapestry) still acceptable incorporates B2B affiliation capabilities from Commerce One, as even acicular out by SAP during its barrage of mySAP SRM artefact (SAP To Take Care Of All Suppliers), the accustomed activity has been that the affiliation is what accustomed Commerce One to survive to this point accustomed about 95% of its authorization revenues accept continued been advancing from SAP royalties. Abounding still accept that alone a buy-out by SAP will ensure Commerce One's abiding survival. Accustomed it has now become a arguable argument, abounding are apperception about added abeyant buyers, while a attenuate few are advertence that Commerce One adeptness still accomplish it on its own.

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Indeed, the bell-ringer has so far apparent its adeptness to accept a few lives like a cat, by a alternation of consecutive chameleon-like transitions and cast acceptance authoritative afresh aural the exchanges, e-procurement and accumulation accord administration (SRM) corresponding markets. Following up on the collapse of the accessible (and, to a degree, even private) trading exchanges concept, and accepting apparent the autograph on the bank apropos SAP's activity ending, in December 2001, Commerce One, appear Commerce One 5.0 that included Buy, Source and the Collaborative Platform, its online sourcing appliance which it developed apart of SAP and which is the aboriginal artefact to accept been developed alone by Commerce One back they accomplished their partnership. This new apartment of collaborative sourcing and accretion solutions was aimed at automation of action source-to-pay processes, while aswell enabling abysmal access amid an alignment and its trading partners.

However, accepting absorption in cardinal sourcing has not been an simple accomplishment for Commerce One appropriately far, in abundant allotment because the bazaar had in the accordingly got acclimated to the abstraction of its success alone via piggy-backing on SAP and by getting eventually acquired by the giant. The actuality absolutely charcoal that the lion's allotment of Commerce One's acquirement comes from SAP's chump base, accustomed Commerce One's newcomer cachet in the SRM amphitheatre and its about abridgement of acquaintance aural added affluent absolute abstracts sourcing.

This asperity has been adverse for Commerce One, accustomed the contempo affability of SRM solutions, back barter accept afresh been focused on extenuative money and, decidedly in today's buyers' market, they are utilizing aggressive behest into as abounding categories as possible. Often, the expenditures pertaining to suppliers accord can even beat 30% of revenue, and barter will acceptable embrace any software that is able to bind this amount and/or accordingly actualize a added able and acknowledged accord amid barter and their suppliers. The absolute abstracts e-sourcing beachcomber appropriately seems to be overtaking the procure-to-pay bazaar for aberrant materials. Accustomed absolute abstracts accretion beheading aswell has abundant added arduous nature, the e-sourcing befalling has presented itself, abnormally with ERP vendors like SAP, Oracle and PeopleSoft entering the bazaar in earnest.

Consequently, the ascent competition, annihilative revenues, crippling losses and abundant restructuring moves, accept resulted with abounding Commerce One's business plan changes, Conductor getting the endure пїЅorder of the day'. Back Commerce One had continued struggled to cost-effectively administer its above three audible businesses 1) a UCCnet consulting and accomplishing casework (stemming mainly from the AppNet accretion in 2000), 2) a Web services-based Conductor platform, and 3) a set of procurement, sourcing and basement (the belvedere was MarketSite, Collaborative Platform) barter business applications -- affairs one of them to eScout to bolster banknote assets and added attenuated focus was justifiable. Commerce One has back angry its absorption about alone to Web casework with the Conductor set of applications aimed at accumulation alternation afterimage and facilitating automatic processes amid trading partners.

By devising Conductor, a amalgam amid an affiliation platfform and a belvedere for architecture blended applications or business processes, Commerce One acutely fabricated yet addition bet-the-company' move mid-2002 by axis to harnessing Web casework and thereby axis itself into a standard-based, application-agnostic integrator. It is a hub-based back-office affiliation functionality based on the Web casework technology acquired through Commerce One's beforehand acquirement of Exterprise.