Mntsnow
09-14-2004, 7:34 AM
commentary Last week's ruling in the Oracle/PeopleSoft drama makes grim reading if you care about competition in the software market.
The Department of Justice had tried to prove that the merger of Oracle and PeopleSoft would damage competition in the market for what PeopleSoft called 'high-function' financial and human resources ERP applications. However, the judge ruled that this market distinction doesn't really exist 'as a separate and distinct line of commerce.'
Back in the real world, we all know that there is a market for high-end ERP systems -- one that SAP dominates. Oracle argues that if it teams up with PeopleSoft, it will join the side of the angels by helping to rationalise a crowded applications market and create a stronger company better able to compete against SAP and Microsoft. The merger of Oracle and PeopleSoft will not dominate the market in the way another proposed software merger -- Microsoft and SAP -- would have done. But that does not mean it is a good idea for customers. Read more at ZDnet (http://www.zdnet.com.au/news/business/0,39023166,39159137,00.htm)
The Department of Justice had tried to prove that the merger of Oracle and PeopleSoft would damage competition in the market for what PeopleSoft called 'high-function' financial and human resources ERP applications. However, the judge ruled that this market distinction doesn't really exist 'as a separate and distinct line of commerce.'
Back in the real world, we all know that there is a market for high-end ERP systems -- one that SAP dominates. Oracle argues that if it teams up with PeopleSoft, it will join the side of the angels by helping to rationalise a crowded applications market and create a stronger company better able to compete against SAP and Microsoft. The merger of Oracle and PeopleSoft will not dominate the market in the way another proposed software merger -- Microsoft and SAP -- would have done. But that does not mean it is a good idea for customers. Read more at ZDnet (http://www.zdnet.com.au/news/business/0,39023166,39159137,00.htm)