J.D. Edwards launches Web services enterprise apps

InfoWorld - SAN MATEO, Calif. -- J.D. Edwards & Co. yesterday started what will be a six-month rollout of J.D. Edwards 5, a component-based suite of enterprise software applications that will incorporate Web services support.
Components include enterprise resource planning (ERP), supply chain management, customer relationship management, supplier relationship management, business intelligence, collaboration, and integration for self-service applications and its middleware tools.
Although the product modules provide "evolutionary" improvements over J.D. Edwards One World enterprise software, company executives said customers will find two new features particularly attractive: Advanced integration between modules helped along by the use of Web service protocols, such as Simple Object Access Protocol and Web Services Description Language (WSDL), and flexible pricing that doesn't force companies to commit to the entire solution.
"They ruffled the feathers of customers when they converted to suite-based pricing that forced users to buy more than what you needed. It is clear they are now listening to their customers. I can buy just what I need, and that is a good thing," said David Hilmer, IT director at GrafTech International Ltd. in Wilmington, Del. GrafTech, formerly UCar International Inc., is one of the world's largest manufacturers of carbon and graphite products.
J.D. Edwards 5 is a service-oriented architecture that separates the application services from data and presentation layers, said Hank Bonde, chief operating officer at J.D. Edwards in Denver.
"As a result of this separation, it is easy to take advantage of Web services and to use SOAP to communicate from a service requester to a service provider. We also will use the Web registry [Universal Description, Discovery and Integration], and WSDL is fundamental," said Bonde.
The simplest example of integration is the fact that any application can now access the address book, he noted.
Web services and Web enablement fits into GrafTech's vision for the future, said Hilmer, pointing out that the company's strategic direction is focused on extending its advanced supply chain planning out to customers and suppliers.
It's also important from a cost-management standpoint, he added, especially for managing the IT infrastructure, for which he has worldwide responsibility.
"If I just have to make sure everyone has the right browser, it makes my life easier. A browser is low overhead and lower bandwidth than a LAN," Hilmer said.
It will also reduce the total cost of ownership, especially if his company can drop Citrix by using the Web-enabled J.D. Edwards applications.
The ERP solution will be available next month, the CRM offering by year's end, and the supply chain management modulewill ship in two stages -- one next month and the second by the end of the year.