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Federal Judge Rules Oracle can Bid for PeopleSoft

Posted by CowboyNeal on from the carry-on-ellison dept.

terrymaster69 writes "The NY Times reports (free reg, required) that Oracle may have the go ahead to continue its hostile bidding for PeopleSoft. The Justice Department had previously tried to paint the merger as anti-competitive in the corporate services software market. 'Judge Vaughn R. Walker of the Federal District Court in San Francisco rejected the government's definition of the market as too narrow, noting that the software business is particularly dynamic, with a host of current and emerging competitors in that area including Microsoft.'"

14 of 132 comments (clear)

  1. Well, this is just great. by senatorpjt · · Score: 4, Interesting

    There's a HRMS from PeopleSoft at work to handle payroll, the thing doesn't work as it is, and this certainly isn't going to help.

    It's a good thing I still demand my paychecks printed on a piece of paper in an envelope I can carry to the bank myself.

    1. Re:Well, this is just great. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Interesting

      I still demand my paychecks printed on a piece of paper

      Yeah I agree, writing electronically is overrated and how can you be sure what you wrote is your words that you wrote; I mean there isn't any proof. like the other day, UPs dropped of a brand new computer that I supposdely didn't write on an electonic order form and yet it still arrived. Hmmm - tin foil anyone?

    2. Re:Well, this is just great. by LostCluster · · Score: 4, Interesting

      It's a good thing I still demand my paychecks printed on a piece of paper in an envelope I can carry to the bank myself.

      Funny, I perfer "Direct Deposit", "ACH Transfers", and "Online Bill Pay" because when properly configured computer systems move my money, I see there less risk of it going wrong. Paper checks can get lost in transit and take several days to clear, but with electronic transfers the transaction clears instantly and I get access to the money that's rightfully mine immediately rather than having to wait up to a week for processing to happen.

    3. Re:Well, this is just great. by PreviouslySeen · · Score: 2, Interesting

      It's a good thing I still demand my paychecks printed on a piece of paper in an envelope I can carry to the bank myself.

      My question would be if it isnt handling payroll/hr as it should be, Is what printed out on a paper check what it should be? The company that does our payroll uses peoplesoft and I check the direct deposit statement very carefully every pay period.

      --
      Meet the new sig, same as the old sig
    4. Re:Well, this is just great. by qray · · Score: 2, Interesting

      My paycheck once took a trip around the country. Took over a week to get there.

      My rent check took a month to get to my landlord and lived a few blocks away.

      Oh, and when you deposit a check. The banks now just make a copy and shred the original. So you're really not any better off using paper. Do a news search for Check21

    5. Re:Well, this is just great. by TykeClone · · Score: 2, Interesting
      Check 21 is not effective until October 28. Until then, we're still moving massive amounts of paper around the country every day.

      On October 29th ... we'll still be moving massive amounts of paper around the country every day.

      Check 21 will catch on, but it will probably build slowly at first.

      --
      A fine is a tax you pay for doing wrong and a tax is a fine you pay for doing all right.
  2. well by nial-in-a-box · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Anything that kills PeopleSoft is a good thing. I don't care how many people use it or how well it may work for some people, it is the Windows of its market (i.e. poorly made, difficult to support, and unreliable as hell, especially when not configured perfectly).

    --
    I am feeling fat and sassy
    1. Re:well by Undertaker43017 · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Sadly most of the choices in large ERP/OSS software are poor.

      IMHO, it's because most of them are old, complex and the architectures have not been updated.

  3. while I do not want to see Oracle get People Soft, by WindBourne · · Score: 3, Interesting

    it struck me odd that this admin all but drop the MS case, but wase persuing this one. Too be honest, the admin had little to no chance of winning it, as SAP is the big boy and MS is looming.

    But I have wondering why they did persue this one? hummm. payoffs anybody?

    --
    I prefer the "u" in honour as it seems to be missing these days.
  4. not out of the woods by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Interesting

    First point is that this has nothing to do with databases. It is to do with ERP apps of which there are currently 3 major players: SAP, Oracle and Peoplesoft. If Oracle is successful there will be two. Hard to see how this is not less competition, though SAP is so much the market leader that the Oralce/Peoplesoft combined company might be useful to their customers. Its worth noting that Oracle still faces an EU investigation into the bid and, if successful, will to overcome an implacably hostile Peoplesoft board, oh, and gain the support of shareholders for its $7.7bn bid. Also the DoJ has 60 days to appeal Judge Walker's decision.

    1. Re:not out of the woods by Undertaker43017 · · Score: 2, Interesting

      I totally agree. I work for one of those small players, and we are very glad to see this end quickly (we were pissed that our money was being used to fight this in the first place).

      Even beyond the small players, MS is in this market now, and while they are not a big ERP player today, MS doesn't get into a market that it doesn't want to dominate. MS could easily be considered a viable #4.

  5. Re:Point by Ronald+Dumsfeld · · Score: 4, Interesting
    Well, I think they do have a point there... there is plenty of competition around in the database market, and Oracle would still have to compete in a 'real' way - as far as I can see they can't be able to abuse their market position, simply because there's enough competition.
    This ain't about competition in the database market, it's about competition for ERP software. These work on top of a database, and many ERP packages allow you to choose the underlying database.

    I think this is a dreadful decision, Oracle's ERP offering is horrid, and the intent is simply to kill a competitor. If the takeover does go through I hope the clients Oracle is hoping to acquire go elsewhere. What is even more scary is to discover that Microsoft has considered buying SAP. That would instantly give MS a huge market share in back-end business software. You can bet that SAP on non-MS platforms wouldn't be kept up to date with features despite the fact that it runs like a two-legged dog when implemented on Windows.
    --
    Where's the Kaboom?
    There's supposed to be an Earth-shattering Kaboom.
  6. Re:Point by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Interesting

    I would like to think this is an insightful post yet I became weary when you said iF the Unsertanity and Doubt about MS buying SAP was scary, the post resulted in too much FUD.

  7. Re:Be interesting to see if they actually acquire by Nixoloco · · Score: 2, Interesting

    This doesn't even consider the poison pill provisions allowing PeopleSoft clients refunds if Oracle buys PeopleSoft.
    fyi..
    The poison pill provisions are separate from the refunds. The "poison pill" allows them to release more common stock to make it very costly for Oracle to gain a majority share. The refunds were something they implemented to allow their customers to get their money back if the takeover goes through.. which was to help their current sales and again to be an additional deterrent to Oracle.