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InformationWeek.com September 4, 2000
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Vendor Brings ERP Product Into E-Commerce World

J.D. Edwards software package integrates legacy WorldSoftware with WebSphere storefront

By Steve Konicki

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    Software vendor J.D. Edwards & Co. doesn't plan to leave the 3,500 customers of its aging WorldSoftware enterprise resource planning product in the lurch when it comes to E-business. The company this week will unveil a software package, due this fall, that integrates IBM's WebSphere E-commerce storefront with the AS/400-based ERP system. It also will begin shipping products that let WorldSoftware integrate with Siebel Systems Inc.'s customer-relationship management packages.

    The products are the first offerings to come out of J.D. Edwards' WorldSoftware Organization, a division formed in June to offer E-business applications and support to users of the legacy system. Dave Siebert, group VP of the WorldSoftware division, says there's more on the way, including a supply-chain product slated for 2001. The vendor began its WorldSoftware integration efforts last year, debuting a product to integrate Ariba Inc.'s online procurement software with the ERP system.

    The integrated WebSphere product will combine integration and application extension technology from Seagull Software Systems Inc. and from IBM's WebSphere Commerce Suite. IBM Global Services is also launching a consultancy focused on using Seagull software to give WorldSoftware users access to data via wireless devices.

    Analysts say these moves make it clear that J.D. Edwards doesn't want to alienate its WorldSoftware customers, which outnumber users of its newer OneWorld ERP product by about 1.75-to-1. Many WorldSoftware users don't see the need to upgrade to OneWorld yet. John Guest, VP and CIO of high-tech electronics manufacturer Paradyne Corp. in Largo, Fla., says WorldSoftware meets 99% of his needs, though an upgrade may be down the road. OneWorld E-business apps can run on the same AS/400 as WorldSoftware, using the same database, he says, and "probably over time we'll migrate to OneWorld, piece by piece. We'll do that slowly."

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