Advanced SearchSearch HelpWeb Search
<Picture: Originating publication>
August 10, 1998, Issue: 727
Section: News & Analysis
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Cisco Pumps Up PeopleSoft Business Apps
John Fontana
Cisco and PeopleSoft Inc. are integrating their core technologies in an effort to give mission-critical applications a new status on corporate networks.
The companies last week announced an alliance that will let Cisco's network hardware, including routers and switches, recognize PeopleSoft applications traffic and give it priority.
The concept is that mission-critical network applications, such as PeopleSoft's suite of enterprise resource planning (ERP) software, need to have a way to efficiently navigate the corporate network, which is fast becoming a jam of internal and Internet traffic.
"The pendulum is swinging back toward big IT, and you need control over traffic in that scenario," said analyst Scott Lundstrom at Advanced Manufacturing Research. "The ability to differentiate between a Web download, E-mail and an order entry is significant."
But Lundstrom cautioned that enterprise customers do not typically link the choice of a switch supplier with that of an ERP vendor.
Even the threat of that connection, however, has angered some developers.
"If this is the way Cisco wants to work, we will resist this with all we have," said Glenn Jacobson, president of Unique Systems Inc., a software developer and systems integrator. "We don't want the big guys like Microsoft and Cisco having the ability to control the market and squeeze out the little guys like us."
Jacobson said that scenario is fueling the recent surge in interest in the Linux operating system, where developers don't worry about the special interests of giant vendors. Linux is a freely distributed, open source-code operating system.
Cisco and PeopleSoft are integrating PeopleSoft applications and Cisco's forthcoming CiscoAssure Policy Networking, a set of APIs for recognizing and prioritizing traffic. PeopleSoft is the first application developer to announce support for CiscoAssure.
Priority Packets
"What this means is that the most important business applications and data will get priority while traveling over the LAN and WAN," said Jeff Pulver, PeopleSoft's vice president of business development.
Users will not have to upgrade their PeopleSoft applications but will need to install Cisco's Internetworking Operating System on their Cisco products. IOS with support for CiscoAssure will be delivered in the coming months, officials said.
Cisco and PeopleSoft have been working together for nine months, but will not begin delivering products for at least one month, according to Cisco officials.
"We are learning how to identify the level of priority of the PeopleSoft traffic before we can apply policy routing rules," said Steve Behm, vice president for global alliances at Cisco. "We have to create a policy dashboard for IT managers so they can specify where traffic will go and at what speeds."
The two companies plan to cross-train their technical support staffs to handle customer service and are creating a technical certification program for PeopleSoft integrators. They also will integrate the products using test beds and analysis at the PeopleSoft Alliance Solution Center, which opened two weeks ago.
Cisco also plans to create a curriculum and teach classes at PeopleSoft University, the company's continuing education center for customers, sales representatives and integrators.
Regards
Neil |
