ORACLES ACQUISITION OF PEOPLESOFT - LARRY ELLISON AT HIS FINEST

In today's episode Robert draws on personal experience of Oracles acquisition of Peoplesoft and subsequently J.D.Edwards. Robert was part of J.D.Edwards global leadership at the time so watched this deal evolve from the inside.  And whilst his career suffered as a result (Oracle removed the J.D.Edwards leadership team) Robert has to admire the brilliance of Ellison's strategy and execution.

This was Larry Ellison at his finest.  He saw Peoplesoft and J.D.Edwards agreeing-to merge and pounced one week later with a hostile takeover bid. Despite protestations and legal challenges from Peoplesoft's Board, the deal went through.

So why does Robert see this deal as particularly brilliant?  Well in a nutshell, the deal was a true reflection of Ellison's brilliance. In one very clearly executed vision he:

• Removed Peoplesoft and J.D.Edwards competitive threat.  As a merged business they could have seriously challenged Oracles dominant position in the Tier 1 marketplace
• Immediately gained access to more than 8,000 additional customers who Ellison planned to convert over to Oracle applications
• Gained the opportunity to move most of those customers onto Oracle's database
• Avoided any necessity to integrate either business (it simply wasn't necessary)
• Accessed the 18-20% annual maintenance (cash) that Peoplesoft and J.D.Edwardfs customers paid for support on what were essentially very stable products

So bottom line, this was a very clear vision that was swiftly executed by stealth and surprise with immediate benefits flowing straight into Oracles coffers.