Oracle to steer new customers away from PeopleSoft products

I was too conservative. Last month ago, I wrote, "...it would not surprise me if, soon after the PeopleSoft acquisition is complete, Oracle refuses to sell any new PeopleSoft deals on anything but Oracle's database."

As it turns out, Oracle is going to steer new deals away from PeopleSoft's product lines altogether. Oracle won't actually refuse to sell those products, but it won't make it easy to buy them. According to an eWeek article,

As for new sales, Oracle's existing suite will be the focus. If the customer should demand PeopleSoft, "we're happy to exchange our software for money" Ellison said. PeopleSoft prices will now be published, he said....

"Oracle's salesforce will try to persuade you, if you ask an Oracle salesperson what product should I buy, and you're a net new customer... we will recommend and push for E-Business suite," he said.

To be fair, Oracle reiterated its pledge to continue to provide support and enhancements for PeopleSoft products until 2013. Still, the fact that if you are a company looking for an ERP system, two good systems (PeopleSoft's and the former J.D. Edwards products that PeopleSoft acquired and continued to market) will no longer being actively marketed.

In the same meeting, Oracle announced a massive development effort, code named "Project Fusion" that will merge Oracle's three product lines into one. Interestingly, Oracle has put a former PeopleSoft executive, Jesper Andersen, in charge of the strategy group that will develop the product roadmap for Oracle's three product lines.

The San Francisco Chronicle has a short recap of Oracle's press conference yesterday. You can watch the entire three hour Oracle meeting, via Webcast, on Oracle's web site.

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