PeopleSoft to offer ERP apps via I-mode in Japan

PeopleSoft's Japanese unit and two other companies will work together to build and market ERP (enterprise resource planning) systems using I-mode, NTT DoCoMo's wireless Internet service, the companies said Monday.

The system is based on PeopleSoft 8, the latest Web-enabled version of the Pleasanton, Calif.-based company's flagship ERP software. Running on top of the software is DreamArts Corp.'s InterBrain platform, which allows users to make existing applications accessible via a multitude of devices, such as cell phones and PDAs (personal digital assistants).

NTT DoCoMo Inc.'s system development subsidiary, DoCoMo Systems Inc., will customize the application so that users can view it on a small cell-phone display, said Norihito Aoki, a DoCoMo Systems spokesman.

"Using the advantages of the two companies' applications, we made a system for I-mode," he said.

To improve security, the service employs DreamArts' Cyber Side Cookie technology, which enables cookies to be used on I-mode, which does not support cookies as standard.

The new system will allow corporate users to access databases, such as product and client information or orders and inventory, while outside of the office using their I-mode handsets. Users will also be able to file budget and expense reports while on business trips.

"Sales people (on the move) usually use PDAs to access business resources," said Aoki. "It is handier and more convenient to use a cell phone, which could make the company more productive and help expand new markets," he said.

DoCoMo Systems focuses on the development of mobile systems and in the future, as mobile Internet services become more widely spread outside Japan, the company hopes to provide its systems worldwide, he said.

The companies will soon begin marketing the system to PeopleSoft's 320 clients in Japan.