PeopleSoft goes multinational
A new release from PeopleSoft is intended to fuel the enterprise software vendor's international revenue growth.
The latest version of the company's software suite PeopleSoft 7.5, which is on target to launch in the second quarter, has been updated with global enhancements aimed at making the application more attractive to international companies, Ronald Codd, the company?s CFO, said at today's BancAmerica Robertson Stephens conference here.
The suite will have multilingual support for French, German, Spanish, and French-Canadian users, and will expand support for the European Monetary Union for both accounts payable and receivable.
PeopleSoft also has added global human resources support to address the country-specific needs of the HR departments of its clients. Last month, PeopleSoft signed global consulting agreements with Andersen Consulting, Deloitte & Touche Consulting Group, KPMG Consulting, and Price Waterhouse in an effort to better support its multinational customers. The goal of the alliances is to increase the worldwide pool of dedicated PeopleSoft resources and to establish local market infrastructure to ensure consistent delivery of PeopleSoft solutions, Codd said.
He noted also that PeopleSoft will continue to pursue acquisition candidates going forward. "There is a lot of great stuff out there and we want to join forces with those technologies," he said.
The company now is targeting middle-tier companies whose revenues range in the $50 million to $250 million level, and is expanding its outsourcing services to increase its revenue opportunities, Codd added.
PeopleSoft, which said it now spends 16 percent of its revenue on research and development, recently announced a new initiative focusing on the development of the market for outsourced enterprise solutions. These efforts include business development and the formation of more strategic alliances, as well as the creation of a dedicated business unit for sales and service. PeopleSoft will officially launch its outsourcing program during the first half of 1998.