PeopleSoft is tired of being the best kept secret in supply chain management. PeopleSoft is well-known as an ERP developer with strong roots in the HR function. But what is not well known is that when it comes to supply chain management (SCM) applications, PeopleSoft has more installs than Manugistics, a big name in SCM. Last year, AMR released statistics that show PeopleSoft with 7% of the SCM installed base, following SAP (26%), in-house/custom (23%), Oracle (10%), and i2 (9%). Manugistics has 5%. Interestingly, the category "other" has 38%, showing that the supply chain management category is still a highly fragmented market and ripe for a financially sound vendor such as PeopleSoft to increase market share.

Recognizing this opportunity, PeopleSoft lately has been pushing its significant capabilities in SCM. Last year, PeopleSoft hired Patrick Quirk out of i2, to serve as VP and GM of PeopleSoft's SCM division. This year, the release of PeopleSoft 8.8 is slated to include increased functionality for supply chain planning and better integration with the rest of the enterprise suite. This latter point is important because for too long PeopleSoft has allowed its SCM modules, which it picked up years ago in its acquisitions of Red Pepper and Distinction, to stand apart from its core system. In Version 8.8, these modules are now completely rewritten in PeopleSoft's development toolset, PeopleTools. It is also being reported--and a local PeopleSoft sales manager confirms--that PeopleSoft is hiring over 100 new salespeople. Expect to see a good part of these feet on the street to be hunting for SCM deals.

Manufacturing Systems has more on PeopleSoft's renewed focus on SCM.