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Oracle Procurement Experts Answer Your Questions About ...
PeopleSoft Enterprise Supplier Relationship Management

The first in a series of columns featuring answers to customers' most frequently asked questions about Oracle Procurement products–straight from Oracle executives. This month, Oracle PeopleSoft SRM expert Alexandra Dhillon responds to frequently asked questions and offers advice on upgrades and support, services spend-management strategies, and tips for networking with PeopleSoft experts around the world.

Why should we upgrade to 9.0 rather than 8.9?
Without seeing a customer's environment, it can be difficult to give advice. But in general, we're pointing customers toward 9.0 for three reasons. First, there is the obvious benefit of getting new functionality. Second, there is virtually no difference between the technical requirements for 8.9 and 9.0.

Third, and most importantly, moving to 9.0 extends a customer's support window for one year because it arrived in Q3 2006, while 8.9 came out in Q3 2005. With release 9.0 Premier Support you're covered through Q3 2011 or even Q3 2014 with Extended Support. Read more on PeopleSoft Enterprise 9.0 Supplier Relationship Management.

When will PeopleSoft Release 9.1 be available?
We're still focused on helping companies capitalize on 9.0, so it's a bit soon to discuss the exact timing of the next release. However, we expect to be able to provide more information near the end of 2008, so companies can start upgrading by the middle of 2009.

What should we expect when we implement SRM–what are other companies experiencing?
Some companies have had excellent experiences. Boise Cascade LLC wanted to streamline operations and reduce administrative costs to maintain an edge in the competitive wood products industry. It implemented SRM and uses purchasing's automation capabilities to connect directly to preferred suppliers without having to involve buyers. Buyers can now focus on strategic activities, such as analysis, sourcing, and supplier negotiations.

Boise also used the opportunity to consolidate its financial operations, reducing by half the financial administration staff for five mills. This application also provides enterprisewide access to consistent data and improved decision-making.

We're using PeopleSoft Enterprise Procure-to-Pay and the basics have given us a very efficient procure-to-pay process. What are the next areas we should be looking at?
Many customers have delivered savings for their companies by tackling direct and indirect goods, but we often see that there are still big opportunities to save money in services categories. In most organizations, the acquisition of services tends to be a manual process, which can mean unmanaged costs, extended cycle times, and error rates as high as 40 percent for service invoices. PeopleSoft Enterprise Services Procurement offers companies new ways of gaining control and oversight in new categories. This is especially true for contingent labor procurement, including accurately matching resources and service requests and managing on-boarding activities.

We'd like to learn about features we're not using or different ways to configure the product from other people who are using it. Can you introduce me to other PeopleSoft Enterprise SRM customers?
We are happy to honor one-off requests for introductions. However, user groups offer fantastic networking opportunities and are a great forum for learning. These groups also let users ask questions and share enhancement requests with Oracle. User groups include

• Supplier Relationship Management Product User Group (SRM PUG)
• Higher Education User Group (HEUG)
• Healthcare Industry User Group (HIUG)
• The Distributors' and Manufacturers' Users Group (DMUG)

See the iSeminar: Center-Led Procurement—Myth to Reality.

Oracle Supplier Network: Supplier Integration Best Practices

Best Practices in Procurement, a Customer Case Study