PeopleSoft resellers and industry analysts have generally given Oracle Corp. good grades following last month’s long-awaited detailing of its product roadmap and strategy.
“”It really clarified the concerns we had,”” said Michael Etinson, president of Syntax-.net, a Montreal-based ERP integrator
with PeopleSoft and SAP practices in Quebec and Ontario.
“”The future is a lot brighter.””
PeopleSoft VARs and their customers were worried after Oracle announced in December it had reached a deal to
buy PeopleSoft after conducting a hostile take-over for 18 months. At the beginning of the ordeal Oracle chairman Larry Ellison suggested PeopleSoft applications would virtually be buried and customers switch to the Oracle E-Business Suite (EBS) as soon as possible.
But last month the company said it would support People-Soft applications until 2013, develop a new version of EBS including the best features of applications from PeopleSoft and J.D. Edwards (which PeopleSoft bought in 2002), create a “”graceful”” upgrade by 2008, and let customers move to the new suite when they are ready.
PeopleSoft support and maintenance contracts will stay the same.
Even better for one of his customers, Etinson said, is that support for PeopleSoft XE, which was about to end, will continue for another two years. The client “”was absolutely delighted.””
On the other hand, the head of Nakisa Inc. of Montreal, an independent software vendor of data visualization tools that plug into several ERP apps including PeopleSoft, was unsatisfied.
“”It’s not a good feeling at all,”” said Babak Varjavandi, the company’s CEO.
PeopleSoft’s partner program was segmented to distinguish between application ISVs like his and other software vendors.
But Oracle still can’t tell him what level Nakisa will be designated in its three-level channel program.
Varjavandi fears Nakisa will be invisible as part of Oracle’s huge partner base.
“”Right now we have no idea where we stand,”” he said.
Change investment
If unsatisfied, he said, one option is to invest fewer resources in the Oracle side of his business.
In interviews, Oracle executives acknowledged to CDN that some details of the PeopleSoft merger still have to be worked out, including the blending of partner programs.
However, Rauline Ochs, Oracle’s group vice-president for North American channels and alliances, said that “”our number one objective is to retain PeopleSoft partners (and) to be sure they have no interruptions — business as usual.””
While the strategy is to encourage PeopleSoft/JDE VARs to keep selling upgrades to existing customers, Oracle also said that new customers looking for business applications will be encouraged to buy its E-Business Suite (EBS), or its lower-market sibling, the EBS Special Edition.
Many PeopleSoft partners say they want to add the Special Edition to their product portfolio, Ochs added.
“”That product is available to partners as quickly as they can get through the qualification criteria,”” she said.
In fact, she added, this month the company will stage a Webcast to tout the Special Edition to Canadian resellers and potential customers.
Raising limits
Another way Oracle is trying to be channel-friendly is by raising the selling limits of its internal sales force. PeopleSoft restricted its partners from dealing with companies with sales of more than US$100 million; Oracle’s limit is US$75 million.
That line will be lifted in June to US$100,000 for both partners, Block said.