PeopleSoft enhances eProcurement solution with unlimited access to independent supplier network.

PeopleSoft Inc. (Nasdaq:PSFT) has announced a major enhancement to its Supplier Relationship Management (SRM) solution by providing out-of-the-box connectivity from PeopleSoft's eProcurement solution to more than 8,000 suppliers and over 21 million SKUs of content. Building on an existing partnership with Perfect Commerce, the new Perfect Commerce OSN(SM) Connect for PeopleSoft, connects PeopleSoft eProcurement with the Perfect Commerce Open Supplier Network (OSN). As a result, customers will benefit from rapid access to suppliers, reduced transaction and material costs, and simplified supplier enablement--all accelerating an organization's return on investment for eProcurement initiatives.

"Supplier enablement continues to be the Achilles heel of e-procurement," said Tim Minahan, Vice President of Supply Chain Research at Aberdeen Group, Inc. "The typical e-procurement implementation only has 30 suppliers enabled. As a result, most enterprises are channeling less than 20 percent of their indirect spend through their e-procurement systems. This joint offering tackles the supplier enablement problem head-on by attacking one of the remaining barriers to e-procurement adoption and time-to-value."

The new offering, Perfect Commerce OSN Connect for PeopleSoft, will enable PeopleSoft SRM customers to:

--Increase supplier enablement by connecting to suppliers thathave limited technical ability

--Automate the source-to-settle process with one comprehensivesolution

--Reduce purchasing transaction costs 

"As a customer of both PeopleSoft and Perfect Commerce, we applaud the announcement of this new solution," said Arnaud Neven, Process Director, GPG (Global Procurement Group), BNP Paribas. "Having a single supplier enablement solution solves a key customer pain point for catalogue creation and updating. In addition, the enhanced solution can lower transaction costs and significantly reduce the upfront efforts needed to enable suppliers."

The single source offering will provide unlimited access to the Perfect Commerce OSN for a wide range of transactions without requiring ongoing subscription and transaction fees. This approach is significantly different than other offerings that only provide links to inflexible proprietary networks or offer no supplier network links at all. In addition, the solution differentiates PeopleSoft from niche vendors by allowing customers to choose between different transaction formats, providing unmatched flexibility and openness.

"With this agreement, we have made a strong partnership even stronger," said Sandy Kemper, CEO, Perfect Commerce. "We are glad to extend the value we deliver to our joint customers. The enhanced solution acts as a huge accelerator for eProcurement ROI by lowering supplier collaboration costs and significantly reducing the effort needed to automate supplier interactions."