PeopleSoft Enterprise Financial Management Raises the Bar; New Release will Provide Superior Ownership Experience, Increase Productivity, Reduce Implementation Costs

Business Wire, Sept 15, 2003

Business Editors/High-Tech Writers

Connect 2003

ANAHEIM, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 15, 2003

At its Connect 2003 conference, PeopleSoft, Inc. (Nasdaq:PSFT) today announced PeopleSoft Enterprise Financial Management 8.8, the next generation of its industry-leading suite of financial applications. The new release will include more than 225 new features and enhancements across 20 applications. This functionality will enable CFOs to more effectively meet both compliance and profitability demands, and improve the Total Ownership Experience.

PeopleSoft Enterprise Financial Management 8.8 will continue to provide enhanced support for financial best practices that incorporate intelligent self-service and embedded analytics. PeopleSoft will also deliver new features that can boost employee productivity by up to 20 to 30 percent while slashing implementation costs by as much as 20 percent.

"PeopleSoft is quickly delivering on its Total Ownership Experience initiative with the latest release of its Financial Management solution," said Lee Geishecker, vice president, Gartner Research. "Customers today need solutions that let them focus on running their business, not on running their software. Going forward, enterprise software vendors will distinguish themselves by meeting this need."

Enhanced Usability Increases Satisfaction, Adoption Rates

PeopleSoft is committed to continuously improving the usability experience. The company engaged more than 200 end users to test the top 120 most commonly used tasks across 20 applications. Based on customer input, PeopleSoft has simplified many of these tasks with consistent icon-driven navigation and a reduction in the number of clicks needed to execute a task. For example, employee expense reporting was streamlined by more than 50 percent by reducing the number of screens and introducing a new common interface for expense entry on both connected and mobile clients.

Implementation Time and Costs Slashed

PeopleSoft Financial Management 8.8 will streamline the deployment process from start to finish. The new configuration tools will eliminate implementation steps and enable applications to be deployed more quickly and easily. PeopleSoft's Enterprise Service Automation (ESA) includes pre-packaged business process integration with SAP's back-office systems, significantly reducing implementation time and cost. In addition, the new direct bank connectivity in PeopleSoft Cash Management and the robust collections functionality in PeopleSoft Receivables will significantly reduce the need to license, integrate, and maintain third-party software.

Intelligent Best Practices Improve Control and Efficiencies

Best-practice enhancements such as intelligent self-service and embedded analytics will allow users closest to the business process to be accountable, while at the same time allowing financial managers to maintain control and visibility. PeopleSoft Enterprise Financial Management 8.8 will also leverage advanced technologies to increase process efficiencies. For example, support for XBRL and on-demand processing capabilities in Receivables and Payables will enable real-time reporting. A new condition monitor in Receivables will help manage days sales outstanding. Embedded analytics in Cash Management will give treasurers a real-time view of cash positions throughout the day to improve liquidity and investment returns.

Louisiana-based Entergy is one of the largest integrated energy companies in the United States and a PeopleSoft Financial Management customer since 1996. "We've been involved extensively in testing PeopleSoft Financial Management 8.8 and are impressed with the intelligence of the applications," said Steve K. Myers, CPA, finance operations center manager, Entergy, Inc. "With the new release, we will be able to set up the rules so that the bank accounting and reconciliation processes are done automatically. The ability to import and upload bank files automatically in PeopleSoft - without third-party software - should generate significant time and cost savings."

"Finance executives are walking a tightrope, balancing Wall Street demands for improved earnings with multiple compliance deadlines under Sarbanes-Oxley," said Renee Lorton, senior vice president and general manager, PeopleSoft Financial Management. "The new release of PeopleSoft Enterprise Financial Management was designed to help finance departments do more with less. We have combined a superior ownership experience with intelligent best practices to dramatically increase productivity and drive increased profitability."

The new release will also support global business and regulatory reporting requirements such as Sarbanes-Oxley, International Accounting Standards, the Healthcare Information Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), and the Joint Financial Management Improvement Program (JFMIP).

PeopleSoft Enterprise Financial Management 8.8 will be available in the fourth quarter of this year.

About PeopleSoft

PeopleSoft (Nasdaq:PSFT) is the world's second largest provider of enterprise application software with 11,000 customers in more than 25 industries and 150 countries. For more information, visit us at www.peoplesoft.com.