PeopleSoft Posse Still Peeved

Amidst much fanfare, Oracle Corp. (Nasdaq: ORCL) earlier this week announced its plans for PeopleSoft Inc. (Nasdaq: PSFT), but the Pleasanton, Calif.-based firms users are still anxious about the long-term effects of the merger (see Oracle Takes Control of PeopleSoft).

Oracle outlined support for PeopleSoft’s enterprise and core JD Edwards families through at least 2013, and provided an estimated roadmap for other releases (see Oracle Shares PeopleSoft Plans).

The Redwood Shores, Calif.-based vendor also unveiled the grandiosely titled "Project Fusion," an architecture combining the best features of both companies' products. The first of these new applications will be available in 2007.

But one IT manager at a large private university, who asked not to be named, was unhappy about the whole business. “I personally wish that the merger had never happened. PeopleSoft customers would have been better off if PeopleSoft remained the owner of the software,” he says. “Since they developed the software they know it best.”

The IT manager, who uses a range of PeopleSoft offerings, was also uneasy about the future roadmap. ”I like a lot of what I have heard, but there are still a lot of unanswered questions. I would like to know if, in the future, the combined products will only run on Oracle’s platforms,” he says.Another PeopleSoft user, an IT manager at a major manufacturing firm, who also asked not to be named, voiced her concern about the 5,000 job cuts announced by Oracle last week (see Oracle Announces Job Cuts).

”I am concerned about the [effect of the] job losses,” she says. “That’s a whole chunk of people coming into the job market -- what kind of impact will this have on everyone else?”

These concerns will be music to the ears of Oracle’s archrival SAP AG (NYSE/Frankfurt: SAP), which is on the lookout for any disgruntled PeopleSoft customers (see SAP Sidles Up to PeopleSoft Users and SAP Offers Safe Passage).

But Sheryl Kingstone, program manager at analyst firm The Yankee Group believes the PeopleSoft posse should not worry too much about the immediate future. “If you are a happy PeopleSoft customer now, you will be a happy PeopleSoft customer next year,” she says.

”What Oracle is trying to do is keep [PeopleSoft] customers happy with the products they are using now -- they are not rushing to change things yet,” she adds.But Kingstone also warns PeopleSoft users not to get too comfortable. “The question is where do you want to take it in 2007 -- that’s what companies should be thinking about,” she says.

Oracle was unavailable for comment on this article.

— James Rogers, Site Editor, Next-gen Data Center Forum