PeopleSoft's ‘Show Must Go On'

PeopleSoft Inc. kicked off the first of its four-city roadshow at the Millennium Hotel highlighting its enterprise service automation (ESA) offering in New York last week despite the continued threat of terrorist activity.

"We're going to focus on the business at hand," said Bill Vellante, vice president and general manager of operations at PeopleSoft, during his opening comments. "There's a saying on Broadway: ‘The show must go on.'"

In his keynote address, Craig Conway, president and chief executive officer at PeopleSoft, emphasized the importance of a "collaborative enterprise" through the use of the Internet. "Today, it's all about the Internet. The Internet will change the world of business as much as it's ever changed the world of consumers. It will have as a dramatic effect on business as it has had on consumers."

Besides touting the benefits of PeopleSoft 8 CRM and its use of the Web, Conway boasted about the functionality and quick adoption rate of its ESA product released last February. "Through word of mouth ESA became one of our most popular products. Since February we signed 80 customers. We signed more customers on ESA than any of our other products in their first year," Conway said.

Some of the capabilities of PeopleSoft ESA include the automation of buying and managing the appropriate external services for a project, locating talent that already exists inside an organization, and facilitating the payment of expenses for employees and contractors.

"Mark my words, ESA is where CRM was five years ago," assured Conway.

In addition to New York, the PeopleSoft tour will make stops in Dallas, Toronto, and Chicago.

www.peoplesoft.com