X
Business

Oracle takeover of PeopleSoft 'no drama': Gartner

Tech research and analysis provider Gartner expects no "dramatic difference" to software maker PeopleSoft in the short term after it surrendered to Oracle's hostile takeover.As regional executives from both parties hunkered down to assess the impact of last night's dramatic decision, Gartner analyst Kristian Steenstrup said the merger "comes as a relief to organisations" who have been at the edge of their seats during the long running battle.
Written by Kristyn Maslog-Levis, Contributor
Tech research and analysis provider Gartner expects no "dramatic difference" to software maker PeopleSoft in the short term after it surrendered to Oracle's hostile takeover.

As regional executives from both parties hunkered down to assess the impact of last night's dramatic decision, Gartner analyst Kristian Steenstrup said the merger "comes as a relief to organisations" who have been at the edge of their seats during the long running battle.

"It comes as a relief to organisations now that it has ended. Its good for businesses generally since a lot of customers had a lot of anxiety about this. In the short term, there is little dramatic difference with the merger. Oracle has said they would continue to support the production of PeopleSoft products," Steenstrup said.

Steenstrup added that PeopleSoft clients should expect a consolidation of resources in the long term, including administrative and sales resources.

"We probably won't see as much consolidation in the short term in their technical support resources because Oracle said it will continue to support PeopleSoft products. It does indicate generally good news, especially since there will be no reduction of support for PeopleSoft's clients and there is adequate technical resources at hand to fulfil that commitment," said Steenstrup.

He added that the general expectation would be that PeopleSoft products will eventually be phased out after the period of "parallel support" given by Oracle to its former rival's clients.

"Oracle stated its intention saying that they would look to create a future product combining the best features of both product lines. However, they have not indicated a time frame for this," Steenstrup said.

He expects Oracle to continue taking over other companies in the coming years as it aims to become a "healthy competitor" against bigger software makers such as SAP and Microsoft.

Oracle announced yesterday that PeopleSoft's board had agreed to a deal valuing PeopleSoft at US$26.50 per share, higher than Oracle's "final bid" of US$24.

PeopleSoft accepted the US$10.3 billion takeover deal with Oracle yesterday. The deal between the business software makers is expected to close at the end of January.

Editorial standards