No white knight for PeopleSoft

PeopleSoft customers hoping for a vendor to step in as a 'white knight' and provide an alternative to Oracle's hostile acquisition are likely to be disappointed, industry analysts have warned.

According to Gartner, the current positions of other vendors in the infrastructure and application markets make them "unlikely white knight candidates".

"After examining the opportunities for these other vendors, we believe PeopleSoft and JD Edwards prospects and users should consider a 'white knight' scenario as a low probability when considering their options," said Betsy Burton, vice president and research director for Gartner.

"However, most vendors' strategies will be impacted by this pivotal event in the next two years. Applications users should accordingly evaluate if and how, in light of this event, their current providers will support them."

Companies will not be able to sit on the sidelines and wait for the decision on these acquisition activities, Gartner warned. Instead they must use this time to evaluate the best course of action regardless of the merger outcome.

"While uncertainty lingers, Gartner has been advising clients to not simply stop all PeopleSoft and JD Edwards deployment activities," Burton said.

"Assess your risk tolerance, coupled with your assessment of the likelihood that Oracle will complete the PeopleSoft acquisition. Once understood, if appropriate, take specific action based on where you are in the application life cycle."

Gartner analysts said this event would have a broad market impact, not only in business applications but in other applications and infrastructure software segments.