InformationWeek

May 10, 1999

Portal Push

ERP vendors join the rush of software companies with plans to deliver gateways that integrate applications with other data sources

By Tom Stein and Beth Davis

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ith their core enterprise resource planning business slumping, SAP, PeopleSoft, Oracle, and other ERP vendors are trying to reinvent themselves as cutting-edge electronic-business vendors--and they're using the newly popular concept of portals to do it.

SAP last week introduced software that combines data from its R/3 applications with other sources, creating a central site for business information intended to be used by all of a company's employees. PeopleSoft is working on its own portal product, the PeopleSoft Business Network, and last week unveiled an Internet-ready version of its applications suite, version 7.5i. Oracle plans to roll out its portal later this year as part of its 11i applications suite. And J.D. Edwards will unveil its ActivEra Portal at its user conference this month.

The goal of all these products is to provide users with a personalized, browser-based entry point to everything they need to do their jobs, from accessing enterprise apps to filing expense reports and checking data on the competition.

Car stereo maker Rockford Corp. in Tempe, Ariz., uses Oracle's manufacturing and financials applications. David Richards, Rockford's CIO, says Oracle's portal, which will feature connections to business-intelligence tools, could help employees better track the marketplace. Managers, for instance, could be alerted when a competitor introduces a new product. "Having real-time visibility would afford us the opportunity to respond in real time," Richards says.

Paul Barker, director of technical marketing at J.D. Edwards, says portals may even replace conventional PC user interfaces. "From a single interface, the user can get access to our applications, as well as to E-mail, to-do lists, spreadsheets, and data from the Internet," Barker says. "Everything I need to do my job will be right there."

The definition of an ERP portal varies from vendor to vendor. SAP's portal interface, mySAP-Employee Workplace, will give users access to SAP's self-service apps for, say, enrolling in a 401(k) program, as well as to travel-reservation systems and online procurement engines. The screens can also be customized to meet specific needs.

SAP is also venturing into electronic business with its portal initiative. Last week, it introduced two Internet extensions for R/3: SAP Business-to-Consumer Selling, which provides the tools needed to build an Internet storefront; and SAP Business-to-Business Selling, which is designed to let business partners share production data over the Internet and place orders in real time. And the new mySAP.com is a Web site meant to serve as a meeting place and business center for the thousands of companies that use SAP software.

PeopleSoft's portal software will let customers tie all their applications to an Internet enterprise backbone and build online communities centering on specific business processes and information. Such sites will be fronted by portal software acting as the user interface. In the second half of this year, PeopleSoft will launch Travel and Expense, Procurement, and Benefits communities; it plans to add Customer, Enterprise Performance Management, and Supply Chain areas early next year.

Oracle's strategy is focused on building an Internet framework for all its applications. Although portal software is included in the forthcoming 11i release--which is designed to let customers run much of their business online--Oracle is steering away from using the term "portal." Nevertheless, the software's capabilities ring a bell. For example, a manager will be able to analyze suppliers, approve expense reports, check the status of product lines, and more--all from a desktop with a browser. But Oracle doesn't plan to move beyond its core competency--managing and delivering company information--to add news feeds or weather reports. "I don't think that is really the ERP vendor's job," says Mark Jarvis, Oracle's senior VP of worldwide marketing operations.