Baan bought.
JDE Edwards bought by PeopleSoft in the same week and now-

Oracle Bids $5.1 Billion for PeopleSoft
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=580&ncid=580&e=2&u=/nm/20030606/bs_nm/tech_peoplesoft_oracle_dc

Oracle just increased its bid on Peoplesoft and is prepared to face them in court over this.

Why didn't they just buy Baan when it was on sale for 5 peanuts and a half if they want an ERP suit so bad?

Is Baan not GOOD enough for the soft people of Oracle?

Are we now the official parias of the ERP world?

Does anyone know where they offer SAP training in the Midwest?

These questions trouble me. Were it not for carefully dosed quantities of bourbon, I possibly would not be able to sleep at night.

If peoplesoft is worth 6.5 Billion and Baan was sold for 140 Million, is this the real difference between the two companies?

I read this today...

"SAP will launch a global ad campaign beginning Thursday focused on luring PeopleSoft and J.D. Edwards customers who are unnerved by Oracle's hostile bid for PeopleSoft.

SAP said it wooed 40 customers away from Baan with a similar ad campaign when Invensys first announced its intent to acquire Baan in 2000".

Read the full article at
http://www.businessweek.com/technology/cnet/stories/1015837.htm

- Bader

Originally posted by Francesco
Is Baan not GOOD enough for the soft people of Oracle?

Are we now the official parias of the ERP world?

Correct and correct. Oracle doesn't want an ERP suite, it wants market share.


Does anyone know where they offer SAP training in the Midwest?

Alarm, defector spotted!!!! :p

Nah, This dog is too old to learn new tricks.
I'll go down with the sinking ship.

Once my skill set has become totaly useless, I will consider a management position.:D

Patrick has hit-the-nail-on-the-head.

Oracle and Peolplesoft/JDE are interested in market share. Oracle's ultimate motive is probably to make sure that ERP applications their RDBMS.

Whilst we (barnboard community) have enormous respect and admiration for Baan software from Functional and Technical perspectives, people making purchase decisions will also consider whether the project that they are investing in will have the necessary support infrastructure availability and future application upgradability potential to cover the period overwhich their relatively large investment is expected to provide a financial payback.

Viewed from this perspective Baan, applicatioins can not look good. Whilst we may regard it as being in the same class (better even) as SAP, JDE/Peoplesoft etc, I think a CEO would have to be very brave to invest in a new implementstion of a Baan product. Similarly, companies with mature Baan systems looking to the future may also considering moving to the suppliers that can demonstrate that that will be for the long haul.

I think it would be a terrible shame if Baan does not survive. The basic ERP product is excellent but the Baan company management has a lot to answer for in my humble opinion.

If they are to survive we need to see a massive clean-out of management people and a restructure of the support infrastructure, very quickly. If we don't see this in the weeks ahead we will know that SSA-GT are going to milk the last drop of annual licence/support fees to provide a return on their investment.

Terry

I agree with Terry that the Baan management needs overhauling.
What realy blows me away is their attitude to customers and potential customers. Maybe this attitude was acceptable in the "good days" when business was booming, but its totaly un-acceptable these days and I am sure it costs them customers. I do see a huge improvement in the quality provided by the support centre though (case people).

Nick's comments confirm my view of Baan management's attitude toward "Customers".

I work at a site that is one of Baan's largest customers in this part of the world and one which has a very successful and mature implementation of BaanIVc4. Despite our success and our investment in this implementation, it is not likely that we will have Baan as the long term application platform. That is: unless Baan can be liberated from the malice of their present managment.

The fact that the market has valued Baan at $140mil and Peoplesoft and JDE at $5-6billion is to my mind a reflection of Baan management's attitude and competence.

I think it is to late for them to learn about "Customers" -- we need a new Management to take this wonderful product / technology and move it back to where it belongs in the market.

Terry

I would be very surprised if Oracle seriously intends to buy PeopleSoft. I suspect it's a bogus offer, intended to hurt PeopleSoft's business.

The anouncement that Oracle plans to "phase Peoplesoft out" doesn't sound credible. You can't just force customers, that went through long and often painfull ERP system implementations after carefully selecting a system, into converting to Oracle. Especially since Oracle is known for it's bugs and lack of functionality.

I'm sure this is nothing than another one of Larry Ellison's stunts to disrupt the business of a competitior. That's the only logical explanation for his various announcements.

Karin
---------------
www.maxsc.com

http://www.forrester.com/ER/Research/Brief/0,1317,17001,FF.html

Brief: June 18, 2003

Oracle Ups Offer: PeopleSoft On The Brink

Today Oracle raised the stakes on the PeopleSoft hostile takeover. The implication? Oracle will likely close the deal with PeopleSoft -- forcing PeopleSoft customers to make migration plans.

by Bruce D. Temkin with Laurie M. Orlov, Christopher Mines, Ryan Hudson
Write to Bruce D. Temkin at btemkin@forrester.com

Oracle raised the price of its takeover offer of PeopleSoft to $19.50 per share -- a 22% increase over its June 6 offer. Based on this offer, we now believe that this deal will likely go through. In an early morning call with Oracle executives Jeff Henley and Chuck Phillips, we heard the current state of Oracle's aggressive takeover plans. Here's what it all means:
The bid represents notable progress for shareholders. At $19.50 per share, the all-cash price represents a 29% premium over PeopleSoft's closing stock price on the day before the original offer was announced. While the initial price represented a low-ball offer, this new deal provides a significant cash out for PeopleSoft investors who want to escape from the declining enterprise app market. If shareholders get excited about this new offer, there might be enough backlash to dissuade PeopleSoft's board from going ahead with the deal to take over J.D. Edwards.

Oracle will suffer through a transition. While Oracle claims that cost cuts will make the acquisition appealing, we believe that the software maker will find it difficult to realize those savings at the same time that it's trying to retain the PeopleSoft customer base. By aggressively pushing its E-Business Suite, we expect to see a significant backlash from the PeopleSoft installed base -- opening up a wave of new opportunities for SAP.

PeopleSoft customers need contingency plans. Oracle claims that it will continue to support customers on PeopleSoft version 7 and 8 -- and gladly will sell additional licenses for these products. They also plan to offer these customers a license for free upgrades to matching Oracle modules -- when customers are ready to upgrade. But we believe that the combination of expected Oracle cutbacks and PeopleSoft employees fleeing to find new jobs will severely diminish PeopleSoft support levels. We also expect that Oracle will grow increasingly impatient with PeopleSoft platform holdouts as it tries to gain the economic benefits of supporting a single platform. The impact: PeopleSoft customers will need to actively consider migration plans -- to Oracle E-Business, to a competitor like SAP, or to an app outsourcer.

PeopleSoft apps outsourcing will boom. In the wake of support uncertainty for PeopleSoft apps, we expect that users will increasingly look for outsourcers to handle maintenance. Look for offshore outsourcers like Wipro Technologies, Infosys Technologies, and Tata Consultancy Services to roll out aggressive programs to maintain PeopleSoft human resources and financial modules -- staffing up with some high-quality ex-PeopleSoft employees.

Siebel Systems will look even smaller. As the Oracle drama plays out, Siebel should be able to attract customers on the cusp of deciding between Siebel's or PeopleSoft's CRM offering. But Siebel can't just stand by and do nothing. Within 18 months, we expect that Oracle will regroup its sales and marketing efforts to regain momentum in CRM. To keep up in a marketplace that will be increasingly dominated by two very large full-suite vendors -- Oracle and SAP -- Siebel must expand its footprint. A couple of options: Purchase J.D. Edwards if the deal with PeopleSoft falls through, or expand more aggressively into the midmarket with an acquisition of Salesforce.com.

There'll be a glut of ex-PeopleSoft employees. To make the economics of the deal work, Oracle plans to make quick and significant cost reductions. Look for the acquirer to immediately chop execs, nonbillable consultants, salespeople, product marketers, and corporate marketers from the payroll. Next on the list will be customer service reps and finance staffers.

Why Oracle Spammed PeopleSoft

What's behind the unsolicited bid for PeopleSoft -- and what the hostility means for the ERP industry.

http://www.cfo.com/article/1,5309,9822,00.html

Oracle leaves all options on table

http://baan.ittoolbox.com/news/dispnews.asp?i=96025

Md. Software Firm Narrows Its Loss

http://baan.ittoolbox.com/news/dispnews.asp?i=96031

PeopleSoft given window to seal J.D. Edwards deal

http://baan.ittoolbox.com/news/dispnews.asp?i=96296