A number of PeopleSoft and JDE customers were stunned, upset and worse with the Oracle takeover. Many even called their friendly SAP rep to discuss migration and SAP's offering called "Safe Passage" aimed at them.
Time to get over the negative emotions – and actually enjoy the growing vigorous competition between Oracle and SAP, and longer term the likely expansion of other choices.
While each PeopleSoft/JDE configuration is unique, and I am happy to review each on an individual basis (please send me an email) in general, here are some broad observations:
1. Short term
a. Sit tight. Consider re-negotiating maintenance rates with Oracle
b. Inspite of SAP's aggressive discounting, not sure you want to migrate to SAP in an over-heated ecosystem. If you do, focus on managing the significant implementation cost not just on SAP’s likely discounted licenses.
2. Medium term
a. See how Fusion evolves
b. Evaluate how both SAP and Oracle and others are extending their footprint in your vertical
c. If you are ready to move on, have each competing vendor provide realistic migration estimates not just showcase their migration tools
3. Longer Term
As the famous economist Keynes said – in the long run, we are all dead. Who knows what the market will be like, but more likely than not, you could have more viable choices.
a) Evaluate BPO options as they become more viable
b) Evaluate Open source enterprise application options
c) Evaluate how well Fusion modules are doing in field implementation (Oracle Apps release 11i looked good when it came out but went through a series of well documented quality issues)
d) Dave Duffield, the founder of PeopleSoft, may have some other solutions for you to consider by then.
As the old cliché goes – make lemonade out of lemons. You are actually in a much better position than you may have thought when the acquisition was announced last December.
