Blue Pumpkin Tools Mesh Work Processes

New tools from Blue Pumpkin Software Inc. can help companies automate and integrate work force processes.

The Sunnyvale, Calif., company last week launched the Blue Pumpkin Fusion platform, which houses its two application sets, Activity Manager and Advisor, and looks to solve two fundamental problems for companies: the proliferation of disconnected, manual processes and the integration of disparate data sources.

As a workplace becomes more complex, Fusion unifies disparate processes and data sources to provide a 360-degree view of each employee by aligning underlying work-related processes such as training, time tracking, performance evaluating and budgeting.

The Fusion platform comprises a store for common application services, an application server, an integration engine and a reporting tool.

The Common Application Services component houses all the common objects and application functions an organization needs for work force management—payroll processes, for example—regardless of which work force application it might be using, officials said.

Blue Pumpkin partnered with BEA Systems Inc. and IBM to support their respective WebLogic and WebSphere application servers.

Fusion Exchange is the platforms integration engine. Blue Pumpkin provides 50 to 60 integration adapters to leading telecommunications, payroll and customer relationship management applications. The integration engine lets users build customized adapters for the integration of legacy applications.

Lastly, Fusion Reports allows users to create reports on common information brought into the system through Common Application Services.