The world-wide ERP major, PeopleSoft increased its presence in India substantially after an alliance with professional services consultant, Pricewaterhouse Coopers (PwC). This alliance makes PwC, one among the ''big five'' consultant companies of the world, the first implementation partner of PeopleSoft in India.

The new alliance was announced at a conference where Mr Murray Creighton, Managing Director, PeopleSoft, Asia Pacific, Mr Bill Walsh, General Manager, International Operations, PeopleSoft, Mr Roopen Roy, Executive Director, PwC and Mr Jeff Brugos, global PeopleSoft Leader, PwC were present. PwC would also provide technical support and authorised training to clients and software professional in India. PeopleSoft, an ERP package centred on its HRM capabilities, would require to be customised to the Indian legal and regulatory environment and also suit local needs. PwC is to facilitate the release and implementation of such customised solutions.

The new alliance gives a major presence for PeopleSoft in India, which was lacking so far, given that other ERP majors like SAP and Baan have set-up shop in India. PeopleSoft looks to tap the MNCs and large Indian companies along with global customers through this alliance. Major PeopleSoft implementations include L&T, JP Morgan, Hindustan Lever Ltd and multi national banks in India. The PeopleSoft Centre of Excellence in Calcutta being setup by PwC will provide access to the latest releases of PeopleSoft software and work towards creating solutions customised to specific industry needs and towards integrating PeopleSoft technologies with data warehousing and e-business solutions.

This alliance is a part of its PeopleSoft''s growth plans in India. Its investment now is a modest $10 million and a revenue target of $30 million in the next three years, starting with about 5 to 7 million this year. Its investment is expected to grow manifold, with its plan for its only development centre outside the US, in India. This development centre is expected to have about 300 people who will look at localisation of products outside the US. Peoplesoft''s global revenue was about $1.4 billion last year and is expected to grow by about 20-30 percent this year. Its profits in 1996 was about 400 million and about twice as much in 1997.