Siemens AG is considering abandoning its in-house use of Peoplesoft Inc human resources applications and replacing them with SAP AG’s equivalent software, a spokesperson for the company confirmed yesterday. Neither SAP AG or Siemens, however, would comment on industry rumors suggesting that the relationship between the two companies has come to an acrimonious end. Siemens already relies on SAP for the bulk of its enterprise resource planning software, which it has been using since its first implementation of mainframe R/2 back in 1994. It later upgraded to the open R/3. According to Herr Gottal, chief information officer at Siemens, the company is currently talking to its divisions worldwide about the stripping out of existing Peoplesoft HR applications. Some HR divisions already use SAP. Siemens insists its move to replace the Peoplesoft software is the result of a desire for a homogeneous system that will help reduce internal spending on maintenance and software, rather than disappointment in Peoplesoft’s product. There may have been minor problems, but what software doesn’t have problems? There are problems with R/3, said Gottal. Siemens, still in the throes of the restructuring process announced in April, declined to give any indication either of how much it has spent on implementing the PeopleSoft software or how long it will take to negotiate its removal worldwide. Systems integration and consulting staff will continue to offer customers the choice of PeopleSoft’s enterprise resource planning suite, the company said.
