PeopleSoft introduces support by subscription

PeopleSoft has rolled out a new pay-by-the-month service that promises to cut technical-support costs for its business efficiency programs.

PeopleSoft Application Management Services gives businesses the option of letting PeopleSoft monitor, patch and tune its software for them for a monthly fee.

The move, announced Tuesday, follows the introduction of similar subscription services from PeopleSoft competitors including Oracle, SAP and Siebel Systems. SAP introduced subscription hosting services for its software last month through an agreement with Hewlett-Packard. Oracle, which has been trying to acquire PeopleSoft for more than a year, offers such services through its Oracle On Demand unit.

The service is available for all three PeopleSoft product lines including its Enterprise, EnterpriseOne and World packages. PeopleSoft's Global Services unit, which administers the program, can deliver the services at customers' facilities or at its own data centers via a hosting agreement.

Through the program, PeopleSoft customers can purchase four types of support services. They include software patching and fixing; system monitoring; help desk tasks; and performance tuning and disaster recovery. Each service is available separately.

The services are available today in the United States and in the Asia-Pacific region. PeopleSoft plans to introduce the program in Europe next year. It did not disclose the services' prices.