PeopleSoft Debuts Software For Managing Services Firms

PeopleSoft Inc. today took the wraps off its Professional Services Automation (PSA) product, software that aims to help services firms better manage financial and human-resources systems.

PeopleSoft PSA targets firms that have difficulty managing the skills and availability of staff. The product provides opportunity and service-resource management, which handles project proposals and planning; identifies employees with the right skills for the job; and manages billing, invoices, and contracts.

Some professional services firms are in desperate need of a tool that will help organize their projects, says John Hagerty, an analyst with AMR Research. "Many of these organizations manage their resources from spreadsheets or on the back of an envelope," he says. "They need a more sophisticated way to figure out how and when to get the right people to the right jobs."

PeopleSoft isn't alone in the emerging professional services market. Evolve, Novient, and Niku provide billing and management services to professional firms. Craig Conway, PeopleSoft president and CEO, says the difference between PeopleSoft and its rivals is that the competitors are focused on a single piece of the market. "You don't see comprehensive billing and contract management being integrated with opportunity management," which is what PeopleSoft delivers, he says.

Pricing will be based on the number of employees who use the product, which is unlimited. But Conway says PeopleSoft is considering switching from a user pricing model to value-based pricing.