PeopleSoft Inc. is the latest vendor to offer a managed service solution hot on the heels of SAP"s hosted ERP offering announced earlier this month. However, amid all the fanfare of the announcement, PeopleSoft said the offering will not be made available to Australian customers.
Last week the vendor announced an application management service for all its ERP product lines in the U.S. including all Enterprise, EnterpriseOne and World products which will cover maintenance, administration, end user and extended services.
But a local PeopleSoft spokesperson said there were no plans for the service in Australia although its main rival, SAP, said it may consider introducing its hosted offering to the Australian market in 2005 depending on its uptake in North America.
SAP"s Australia and New Zealand marketing and alliance director, Len Augustine said he was surprised by PeopleSoft"s decision to leave Australia out of its managed services plan.
The complexity of ERP, CRM and SCM in the enterprise has made the solution one of the hottest growth areas in the industry.
Meta Group senior vice president Michael Doane said the offering will fill a hole for skill sets while reducing costs and allow organizations to focus on their core competency. But he admitted managed application services is still an immature market.