Living on the edge — PeopleSoft

Kapil Dev Singh

SAN FRANSCISCO: Craig Conway, President & CEO, PeopleSoft Inc., in his keynote address at the biggest- ever Connect show, was at his best to convey confidence and commitment, but agreed in his opening remarks that the 'bad dream' is going to haunt for some more time. Conway told the gathering that the past 15 months have been 'a nightmare,' but that PeopleSoft is determined to fight off Oracle. The last one year, he said, 'has stretched our resources and challenged our values, but we didn't give up and we're not going to give up.'

He however, did not talk much about, how long is it going to continue and what the next course of action is for PeopleSoft.

It seems Oracle's fight to acquire PeopleSoft is far from over and is certainly getting tougher with the latter's announcement to get closer to IBM through an alliance, claimed to be very significant and major in the history of the two parties.

However, with a US district court ruling recently giving its verdict in favor of Oracle, both parties have intensified their attempts towards their respective goals.

In a letter to PeopleSoft's customers, Craig Conway claimed 'the ruling does not mean that Oracle has acquired PeopleSoft'. The letter states that PeopleSoft board's concern over antitrust scrutiny, which this proposed acquisition faces is well founded, as the US department of justice (DOJ) and eleven states filed a lawsuit to prevent the proposed acquisition, and also because the European Commission (EC) issued a formal statement of objection.

Oracle Corporation on the other, tries to comfort PeopleSoft customers by claiming on their web site that 'Oracle understands that each PeopleSoft customer has made a significant investment in its current software applications and that it is critical these purchases retain their value and usefulness.'

Though it remains to be seen as to what the final outcome of this battle is, PeopleSoft customers are surely going to lose their sleep over their investments till it gets sorted out. 'A year back the announcement of the merger with JD Edwards was quite shocking as the first reaction', explained an old & loyal customer, 'though things worked out fine over a period of one year, but we are certainly not looking forward to yet another merger'.

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Kapil Dev Singh was hosted in San Francisco by PeopleSoft