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PeopleSoft Woos Small-Business Market

Posted on: Tuesday, 4 May 2004, 06:00 CDT

PeopleSoft Inc. began selling a lower-priced, small-business software product that targets Microsoft Corp.'s efforts to win over companies with fewer than 1,000 workers.

PeopleSoft World Express, introduced today, uses technology acquired in the purchase of J.D. Edwards & Co. last year, said Dave Siebert, group vice president and general manager of PeopleSoft World products. It'll be sold with a server computer.

Pleasanton-based PeopleSoft considers Microsoft its main rival for the product. Microsoft, the world's largest software company, said in November it will invest $10 billion over five years in products and sales to businesses with 1,000 or fewer workers. Microsoft said it wants $10 billion in sales from smaller businesses by 2010.

"PeopleSoft's acquisition of J.D. Edwards allowed them to marry into a company that understands the small-business market, what the pain points are and what problems those customers need to solve," said Maria DeGiglio, principal business analyst with the Robert Frances Group consultancy in Westport, Connecticut.

Small and mid-sized businesses plan to spend 6.6 percent more on technology this year, compared with 1.7 percent more by large companies, Forrester Research Inc. analyst Meredith Child wrote in a report this month.

SAP AG of Germany, the No.1 maker of business programs used for such tasks as inventory, payroll and human resources, has also said it plans to target smaller customers.

"There are 48,000 companies in the U.S. alone with revenue under $50 million," Siebert said. "We feel getting our fair share of this marketplace is a huge opportunity for us."

The product manages areas including inventory and accounts receivable and includes functions for more than 30 industry- specific processes.

PeopleSoft defines the small business market as companies with sales of $20 million to $100 million.

PeopleSoft World Express differs from the company's other business programs in an important way: it shuns technology from Microsoft and rival Oracle Corp. and runs only on a database and server computer from International Business Machines Corp.

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