Oracle will introduce a new application suite dubbed Project Fusion by 2008, offering a cross-section of Oracle, PeopleSoft and JD Edwards enterprise applications.
Oracle CEO Larry Ellison announced this yesterday at the official launch of the combined Oracle and PeopleSoft company.
The organisation will continue to maintain and develop the current versions of the three products, Ellison said at the event at Oracle`s corporate headquarters in California. New versions of the three JD Edwards, Oracle and PeopleSoft suites are set for a 2006 release, after which all of the company`s 8 000 developers will shift their attention to Project Fusion.
The new platform was initially conceived at PeopleSoft and is already under development. The first parts of the new technology will become available in 2006. The first individual applications will be released in 2007 and the full suite should be ready by 2008.
Project Fusion is the foundation on which all future Oracle applications will be based. The suite will be a modularised Java-based service-oriented architecture, enabling users to easily build customisations using industry-standard Java development tools.
"For the first time, a major applications company is going to commit to a standards-based development environment," Ellison said. "Historically our industry has always developed applications based on proprietary tools."
Ellison assured users and partners that moving to the new merged product from one of the existing application suites shall be easy, "an automated update, not a conversion".
Opting for industry-standard development tools is "inevitable", said Scott Tiazkun, a programme manager with the International Data Corporation (IDC). "But it`s a question of timing. Betting on Java now could be too early," he warned.
Oracle finalised its $10.3 billion acquisition on 7 January after an 18-month campaign. PeopleSoft acquired JD Edwards in 2003.
No more job cuts
Last Friday, Oracle revealed it would lay off 5 000 employees worldwide in restructuring the new combined Oracle and PeopleSoft company.
Ellison said yesterday that there would be no more job cuts in the future, because "the integration is largely behind us already".
"Mind you, we had 18 months to plan it," he added in a reference to the period it took to convince the PeopleSoft board of directors to accept Oracle`s hostile takeover bid.
The acquisition made Oracle the world`s second largest enterprise application vendor, trailing only behind SAP of Germany. Ellison, however, believes Project Fusion will allow the company to catch up with SAP. "If we can get this entire organisation...to deliver this next suite of applications, we will win in the applications business. SAP should be very concerned about Project Fusion."
Customer support
The Oracle founder spent much time at the launch event addressing the concerns of PeopleSoft and JD Edwards customers. Ellison reiterated his earlier promise to continue support until 2013 for the Oracle E-business Suite, PeopleSoft Enterprise, JD Edwards EnterpriseOne and JD Edwards World products.
"Some time short of 2013, at a time that is convenient for your organisation, you will upgrade to the merged product," he told users.
Oracle will stop marketing the JD Edwards and PeopleSoft software, selling it only when a customer specifically asks for it. The executive could not give details about pricing and rebates for those products, saying only that "we may very well lower [prices]".
Ellison contradicted reports that Oracle would use the PeopleSoft acquisition to strengthen its database and middleware business. By discontinuing support for competing products by vendors like BEA, Microsoft and IBM, it could force users to switch. "We will give you alternatives, we will give you the option to move to our database or application server. But we will support a variety of third-party products.
"Nothing is really going to change," Ellison told one worried PeopleSoft user who asked if she should continue deploying the product. "Keep doing what you are doing. We`ll continue to support these products for many years to come."
Although many customers attended the event to find out what Oracle was planning to do with the JD Edwards and PeopleSoft products, few users are considering switching vendors for real, said IDC analyst Tiazkun. "It`s sabre-rattling, playing one vendor against the other. It would be an issue if Oracle doesn`t follow through on its promises, but users aren`t dealing with the boogie man here."
Share