PeopleSoft Inc. has been fighting a hostile takeover bid from Oracle for 15 months, and then on Oct. 1, the company's board of directors unexpectedly fired CEO Craig Conway. What are PeopleSoft's partners making of all of this?
For the most part, PeopleSoft's partners aren't making much of it at all. They believe that it will be business as usual.
"We've had a partnership on and off with PeopleSoft since 1999, and we have a good relationship with them," said Will Kelty, president of MagnaWare Inc., a human resources solutions provider. "The change in leadership probably won't affect us. It will take a while for these changes to filter down to our level."
Steve Pace, senior vice president of sales and marketing at NaviSite Inc., an application and management service provider, agreed.
"I believe the new leadership still wants to remain an independent entity. However, shareholders and the management team will now be more able to clearly voice their preferences and business reasons for a potential Oracle combination without the specter of the perceived sparring between CEOs," Pace said.
Pace said he approves of PeopleSoft's new leadership. The company's founder and chairman, Dave Duffield, has replaced Conway as CEO. "Duffield is a great and logical choice to lead PeopleSoft," Pace said.
As for NaviSite, "We believe the new leadership team will support our partner strategy going forward and that we will remain an exclusive provider of PeopleSoft hosting solutions for the midmarket," he said. "We believe that current customers will continue to look to us for guidance and support in managing and extending their PeopleSoft applications, regardless if PeopleSoft is a standalone entity or part of a larger, more diverse organization."
Larry Abramson, senior vice president of sales and marketing at USi (USInternetworking) so said he doesn't see his company's relationship with PeopleSoft changing.
"We can't speculate on PeopleSoft's leadership position, but having worked with PeopleSoft for many years, one thing we're convinced of is that they have outstanding leaders in the company. And what we see here is one of those leaders stepping forward to lead PeopleSoft through its current challenges," Abramson said.
Looking ahead for USi, Abramson said he sees "USi's commitment to PeopleSoft remaining completely steadfast. PeopleSoft is an extremely valuable partner, and as we look at their products, technology and management team, we see PeopleSoft's brightest days ahead."
"We have a unique position since we're one of the largest independent outsourcers for both PeopleSoft and Oracle in the world," Abramson said. "We don't expect any changes from PeopleSoft."
Click here to read about why analysts say Microsoft should pass on rescuing PeopleSoft.
In the event that there is an Oracle merger, Abramson said he doesn't fear any changes to his company's partner relationships. "USi exists as an independent alternative to both companies, so our business model is unchanged."
"Our customer base is made up of large enterprises with complex infrastructures, and the things we do to serve them are more complex than what most ISVs could handle internally." Abramson said.
So it is that while PeopleSoft has "new" leadership at the wheel, and the company is still locked in a battle with Oracle, its partners remain certain that their partnerships will stay strong and that—regardless of how these other issues work out—they'll continue to work with PeopleSoft.
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