InformationWeek
Defining The Business Value Of Technology
May 24, 1999
J.D. Edwards Expands In Key MarketsProducts, partners, boost ERP software; acquires Canadian supply-chain vendor
By Tom Stein, Beth Davis, and Eileen Colkin
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nterprise software vendor J.D. Edwards & Co. last week unveiled several new products, key integration partnerships, and one acquisition in the areas of E-commerce, sales-force automation, and business intelligence."E-business is not a technology, it's an attitude," says chairman and founder Ed McVaney, who introduced new Internet extensions for J.D. Edwards' core ERP offering, including 62 Web applications. He also unveiled the vendor's ActivEra Portal, an E-business offering that will give users access to everything they need to do their job from a single browser-based interface, including J.D. Edwards applications, E-mail, to-do lists, spreadsheets, and Internet data.
Online Procurement Move
J.D. Edwards also formed an alliance with online procurement vendor Ariba Inc. The ERP vendor will integrate and resell Ariba's application with its OneWorld ERP software, rather than develop its own technology.
The Ariba product electronically links companies with their suppliers and helps reduce the time and costs associated with purchasing supplies and services. Officials say the integration between OneWorld and Ariba will be completed by fall.
J.D. Edwards also acquired Numetrix Ltd., a Canadian provider of Web supply-chain planning software, for $80 million in cash. Numetrix's product line is designed to help businesses establish a supply chain over the Internet. J.D. Edwards plans to integrate those capabilities into its applications, which link customers, suppliers, and trading partners in collaborative enterprise networks. The vendor says moving the offerings to the Internet will add real-time capabilities, helping companies implement global supply chains faster. The Numetrix deal is expected to close in June.
In sales-force automation, J.D. Edwards has signed an agreement to resell Siebel Systems Inc.'s suite of customer-focused software, which will share information with its OneWorld applications. The Siebel suite is expected to complement J.D. Edwards' line of customer-relationship applications, called Customer Service Management System, which is aimed at manufacturers whose products require a high level of post-sales servicing and support. Officials say the integration should be finished by year's end.
Tony Praza, CIO at Itron Inc., a provider of energy information and communications solutions to the utility industry in Spokane, Wash., says the move is a positive step. "We have looked at Siebel in the past, and we would consider them again," says Praza, who is using J.D. Edwards' manufacturing applications, as well as its newer call-center and field-service applications. "It's a good thing that J.D. Edwards provides many alternatives."
Meanwhile, systems integrator DataProfit Corp. and business-intelligence vendor Cognos Inc. are working with J.D. Edwards to make it easier for companies to analyze the information sitting in their ERP apps.
Cognos last week rolled out Cognos HeadStart for J.D. Edwards WorldSoftware, a toolset developed with DataProfit that helps users build links to feed operational data from J.D. Edwards ERP systems into their Cognos business-intelligence software. And DataProfit last week began shipping BIEnablers, software that includes preconfigured databases designed specifically for each of the J.D. Edwards ERP apps, as well as query, reporting, and online analytical processing software from Cognos.
Qaubaug Corp., which manufacturers Vibram shoe soles, is implementing J.D. Edwards' software and Cognos' business-intelligence tools. It plans to use DataProfit's BIEnablers to ease the integration of the two products. "We have to run the business day-to-day," says Peter Belanger, director of finance and IT at the North Brookfield, Mass., manufacturer. "Doing our own integration while implementing ERP wasn't a good choice because our IT resources are very tight."
Quabaug will at first use the business-intelligence tools to perform sales analysis and forecasting. But the company plans to bring them to the shop floor so it can analyze reject rates on styles, waste factors, direct labor utilization, and capacity utilization, Belanger says.
BIEnablers is priced at $15,000 to $45,000.
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