PeopleSoft unveils mobile client

BOSTON - Forthcoming upgrades of PeopleSoft's customer relationship management suite will fill some gaps in the package's offerings, including the ability to work with applications offline and synchronize calendar and contact information with Microsoft Outlook.

New mobile client software will be available in Version 8.4 of PeopleSoft's Web-based CRM suite, due out in the first quarter of next year. During the past several months, PeopleSoft has shifted its software lineup from a client/server model to one that requires no code to run on clients. But missing from the Web-based CRM applications is a way for users to work with an application when they are not connected to a network - that's the gap the forthcoming mobile client aims to fill.

Salesforce automation and field service will be the first CRM applications PeopleSoft outfits with mobile features, because the demand is highest among those users, says PeopleSoft CTO Rick Bergquist. The client software required to run the applications offline will be roughly 1M or 2M bytes in size, he says. User interfaces have been designed for laptops and PocketPC handheld devices, taking into account the screen sizes of each.

Bergquist presented a preview of the mobile client last week on the Boston leg of PeopleSoft's customer road show.

Craig Berkson, CIO of Thomson Financial's Portfolio Solutions Group, shared with the crowd his company's experience upgrading from Vantive 8.6 to PeopleSoft 8 CRM. (PeopleSoft entered the CRM market with its 1999 acquisition of Vantive. Launched in June, PeopleSoft 8 CRM is the first fruit of that union.) To date, 160 employees from two divisions of Thomson use the PeopleSoft applications.

Berkson praised PeopleSoft 8 CRM for reducing the desktop administration headaches associated with client/server software. He also acknowledged that there are a few areas he'd like to see PeopleSoft refine. Outlook integration is something his users miss, he says.

PeopleSoft's sales applications include calendar functions, task lists and contact information. But the ability to integrate Outlook with those both applications and to synchronize information between them makes life easier - and more productive - for end users. PeopleSoft is adding Outlook support in Version 8.1, which is due out this month.