JD Edwards (JDE) has announced the general availability of its OneWorld Xe product, touted as a supply chain management system built around interoperability.
JDE believes the next big thing in corporate application software is collaborative commerce (c-commerce), and hopes to catch the wave early.
"There is a new order of business out there in the market," says Mike Evans, MD of JDE South Africa. "If you do not collaborate through application technology, you will die."
Evans believes the enterprise needs a way for its disparate systems to talk to one another without human intervention.
The 300 applications that make up Xe are built around JDE`s Extended Process Integration (XPI) engine. OneWorld XPI embeds Netfish`s XML technology - where JDE`s interoperability story originates - and enterprise application technology from Active Software. XPI serves as a broker for both OneWorld modules and customers` and trading partners` installed business systems.
According to the International Data Corporation`s 2000 Global IT Survey, a little over 10% of large companies currently use XML-based applications. This figure is expected to shoot up to over 40% in the next 12 months. Medium-sized US businesses with XML-based applications are expected to grow from a 5% current install base, to 31% over the same period. The same survey states that 35% of large US companies currently use application server software, while an additional 30% are expected to implement an application server over the next 12 months.
Evans insists that enterprise resource planning is still an essential part of the product offering, as it forms the "foundation of the collaborative world".
New features include a knowledge management solution (expected early 2001); new storefront options with Microsoft Commerce Server and IBM WebSphere Commerce Suite; messaging enhancements for batch, asynchronous and real-time messaging for advanced planning tasks; and role- and relationship-based messaging for trading communities.
Application integration includes Siebel eConsumer Goods; Extensity time, travel and expense manager; Ariba Buyer; and the WebSphere and MS Commerce Server integration.
One feature noticeably missing from the 300 modules is a South African payroll system. According to JDE, the majority of its customers have a payroll system installed before a JDE implementation. The company does, however, offer a localised human resources system.
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