San Francisco — Temporarily shrugging off its ongoing takeover battle, PeopleSoft unveiled a deal with IBM Corp. that will see it standardize applications on Big Blue’s middleware and both vendors marketing joint solutions.
CEO Craig Conway said the deal, which calls for a joint investment in
the initiative of US$1 billion over the next five years, is the most significant enterprise applications alliance in the history of the two companies
“”The middleware infrastructure is so systemic to the success of customers as they assemble these components; it calls for an enormously wide range of middleware products. IBM has the strongest layer of middleware,”” he told the company’s annual user group conference.
PeopleSoft and IBM will collaborate to deliver pre-integrated industry solutions in three vertical markets — telecom, financial services and insurance — and establish the first business process interoperability lab to drive integration.
Conway didn’t ignore the struggle with Oracle Corp., which has offered US $7 billion for his company, reassuring customers and business partners in his keynote that an Oracle takeover is not in its future.
But his comments on the issue that has plagued the software vendor for more than a year were brief on how the Oracle saga might play out in the coming months.
PeopleSoft will integrate IBM middleware and development tools — including core components of WebSphere Portal, WebSphere Business Integration, WebSphere Application Server and WebSphere Studio Application Developer — with its portfolio of applications. Both parties will also contribute resources, domain expertise, integration technologies and funding for marketing and sales programs.
At least one of the more than 700 Canadian customers in attendance applauded the announcement. Normand Houle, vice-president and chief executive officer of Sodisco-Howden, a Montreal-based distributor of tools and services to independent hardware and home renovation dealers across Canada.
Conway: A natural fit
“”It’s a natural fit to see IBM and PeopleSoft getting closer,”” said Houle whose company runs applications on IBM’s iSeries platforms.
In another attempt to assure customers it’s business as usual, Conway pointed out some of the company’s accomplishments over the past year, many of which he said have been overshadowed by Oracle’s relentless attempts to acquire the company.
“”Today it takes 25 per cent less time to implement PeopleSoft than it did a year ago,”” he said.