Oracle takes control of PeopleSoft

December 29, 2004
From the http://www.infoworld.com

Oracle takes control of PeopleSoft

The news that Oracle has formerly taken control of PeopleSoft and that David Duffield has resigned as PeopleSoft's CEO comes as no surprise.

Larry Ellison, Oracle's mercurial CEO, says the obvious in announcing on Oracle's Web site that PeopleSoft stockholders had tendered approximately 75 percent of PeopleSoft outstanding stock, giving Oracle control of the company.

"The combination of these two companies brings together some of the best products and people in the enterprise applications market, all for the benefit of the customer," Ellison says. "We are moving forward quickly with the integration planning process and have been pleased by the level of co-ordination as we combine the two organizations."

The real action is taking place around integration of the organizations' product portfolios, already in progress, says Christine Tenneson, Program Manager for Software and Hardware Support Services for IT research and consulting company, IDC.

Tenneson says Oracle needs to work hard to successfully integrate PeopleSoft's best practices for customer support and maintenance to insure an effective tran-sition.

"PeopleSoft has one of the highest (customer) attachment rates in the industry," Tenneson says. "Their (customer) maintenance base is clearly one of the drivers of the deal."

After its purchase of J.D. Edwards, PeopleSoft successfully integrated the new products and kept the customers, Tenneson says.

"PeopleSoft, with its acquisition of J.D. Edwards, has real experience in taking a portfolio and developing it and integrating it," she says.

Oracle will do well to hold on to the PeopleSoft executives involved in the previous transition, she says.

For more details on PeopleSoft's customer support practices, see Tenneson's report for IDC.