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PeopleSoft/JDE (2)
Q&A Session Between G-CEM Consultants And Members
Mr. Grant Zhang, Marketing & Sales Manager, Shanghai eCaseSoft Co. Ltd.
www.g-cem.org
Question: Can you share some insights as to how PeopleSoft / JDE can be successful in the Chinese market, what it has to do, what should be its main focus, what it may want to consider doing differently to the other vendors. Thank you.
The Management Software Market Is Highly Competitive
This question is too big to answer; I believe that not many people could answer this question accurately. Therefore I dare not say that I can give the right answer to this question, and so what I say is merely for reference.
Actually, if we want to analyze the strategy of PeopleSoft/JDE for entering the Chinese market, we must firstly review the current situation and history of both companies in China.
First of all, we shall have a look at JDE. JDE entered China earlier, and so we can say it has built up a customer foundation earlier. However, it has gradually left the mainstream of the market (at least this is the feeling of users) as a result of market operation and product problems (limitations in its platform) at a later stage. I personally feel that the reputation of JDE products is quite good.
As for Peoplesoft, I feel that it is not becoming popular in China, so it should be considered as a newcomer. Everybody internationally knows the status of Peoplesoft, but the enterprises in China currently understand that the internationalized software is not necessarily good at adapting to the local enterprise situation. In view of the fact that there are not many domestic Peoplesoft cases at present, therefore most people do not understand much about it.
The merging of these two companies has now created even more confusion and everybody is concerned about the development trends and strategy problems of these two products. This can also become a point of attack for their competitors.
Regardless of whether it is at the high-end or low-end of the market, the present status of the management software market is like a state of warfare and the companies are competing aggressively. Currently, SAP/ORACLE is slowly becoming the overlord of the high-end market and it is extending its influence towards the mid-end market too. As for the providers of low-end groups, they all try their best to prove that they have the ability to handle big clients (in fact, they are incapable of doing so). As a result, it has given provider companies, such as QAD/SSA, etc. which originally were orientated towards the mid-end customer group, an extremely hard time.
In fact, there are two kinds of IT application providers at the moment, one of them being the service provider and the other the product provider. To my understanding, I think that Peoplesoft/JDE entered China as a product provider and as the latecomer in the related market it must analyze the current market environment and the status of its competitors, and so formulate its own strategy and tactics carefully. Otherwise, if it joins into this battle too hastily, inevitably it will be trapped in a position that is difficult to get of.
The Importance Of Finding The Right Direction
Mr. Kayeer Fan, Chief of G-CEM Research Institute, 3C Method Certified Consultant
The key point of Peoplesoft/JDE is in ERP, and it has not started with CRM completely yet. Therefore it must orientate its position and complete the preparation process beforehand. There can be no doubt that the product is outstanding. But it does not conform to the actual demands of nor strike a sympathetic chord with the Chinese enterprises, thus it can only indulge in self-admiration without any real affect. Therefore, it is necessary to penetrate into the enterprise and the consulting implementation professions in order to understand the demands of Chinese enterprise.
As for Chinese market operations, the most important factor is orientation, namely, to orientate oneself towards the high-end market like Siebel or to capture the entire low-end market like SAP. The second important factor is local partnership, which includes consultation, implementation, integration service and even the training of BP and so on. The third is price, the Chinese enterprises are very sensitive to prices. Certainly it is not necessary for there to be simply low prices, but instead a price system with multiple categories. The fourth is localized support, as the tailor-making of things according to customer demand should be completed locally.
At the start of competition Peoplesoft has already fallen behind the other competitors. However, if it can enhance its strong points, avoid its weaknesses as well as bringout its superiority, it can still capture a certain share of the market. Outstanding localized employees are the foundation, localized price strategy is the weapon and localized partnership are the wings for Peoplesoft.
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