| Former type | Subsidiary |
|---|---|
| Fate | Acquired by Oracle |
| Successor | Oracle Corporation |
| Founded | 1987 |
| Defunct | 2005 |
| Headquarters | Pleasanton, California, USA |
| Key people | David Duffield, Ken Morris |
| Parent | Oracle Corporation |
PeopleSoft, Inc. was a company that provided Human Resource Management Systems (HRMS), Financial Management Solutions (FMS), Supply Chain (SCM) and customer relationship management (CRM), (EPM) Enterprise Performance Management software, as well as software solutions for manufacturing, enterprise performance management, and student administration to large corporations, governments, and organizations. It existed as an independent corporation until its acquisition by Oracle Corporation in 2005. The PeopleSoft name and product line are now marketed by Oracle.
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Founded in 1987 by David Duffield and Ken Morris, PeopleSoft was originally headquartered in Walnut Creek, California before moving to Pleasanton, California. Duffield envisioned a client–server version of Integral Systems' popular mainframe HRMS package.
The company's sole venture backing came from Norwest Venture Partners. George J. Still, Jr. from NVP joined the Board of Directors.
PeopleSoft version 1, released in the late 1980s, was the first fully integrated, robust client–server HRMS application suite.[1]
PeopleSoft expanded its product range to include a financials module in 1992, distribution in 1994, and manufacturing in 1996 after the acquisition of Red Pepper.[1]
PeopleSoft's product suite was initially based on a client–server approach with a dedicated client.[1] With the release of version 8, entire suite moved to a web-centric design called Pure Internet Architecture (PIA).[1] The new format allowed all of a company's business functions to be accessed and run on a web browser. Originally, a small number of security and system setup functions still needed to be performed on a fat client machine; however, this is no longer the case.
The architecture is built around PeopleSoft’s proprietary PeopleTools technology. PeopleTools includes many different components used to create web-based applications: a scripting language known as PeopleCode, design tools to define various types of metadata, standard security structure, batch processing tools, and the ability to interface with a SQL database. The metadata describes data for user interfaces, tables, messages, security, navigation, portals, etc. This set of tools allows the PeopleSoft suite to be platform independent.
In 2003, PeopleSoft performed a friendly merger with smaller rival JD Edwards.[2] The latter's similar product line, World and OneWorld, targeted mid-sized companies too small to benefit from PeopleSoft's applications. JD Edwards' software used the Configurable Network Computing architecture, which shielded applications from both the operating system and the database back-end. PeopleSoft branded the OneWorld product PeopleSoft EnterpriseOne.[3]
Beginning in 2003, Oracle began to maneuver for control of the PeopleSoft company. In June 2003, Oracle made a $13 billion bid in a hostile corporate takeover attempt. In February 2004, Oracle decreased their bid to approximately $9.4 billion; this offer was also rejected by PeopleSoft's board of directors. Later that month, the U.S. Department of Justice filed suit to block Oracle, on the grounds that the acquisition would break anti-trust laws. In September 2004, the suit was rejected by a U.S. Federal judge, who found that the Justice Department had not proven its anti-trust case. In October, the same decision was handed down by the European Commission. Though Oracle had reduced its offer to $7.7 billion in May, it again raised its bid in November to $9.4 billion, marking a 14% increase.
In December 2004, Oracle announced that it had signed a definitive merger agreement to acquire PeopleSoft for approximately $10.3 billion. The following January, Oracle announced plans to cut approximately 9% of the 55,000 staff of the combined companies, maintaining at least 90% of PeopleSoft's product development and support staff.[4]
Oracle moved to capitalize on the perceived strong brand loyalty within the JD Edwards user community by rebranding former JD Edwards products. Thus PeopleSoft EnterpriseOne became JD Edwards EnterpriseOne and PeopleSoft World became JD Edwards World. Oracle has announced that a new product, Fusion Applications, is to be released in the near future. Oracle says Fusion will take the best aspects of the PeopleSoft, JD Edwards and Oracle Applications and merge them into a new product suite.
Oracle is committed to ongoing maintenance and enhancements to the PeopleSoft application suite with its Application Unlimited program, recently releasing PeopleTools 8.52.
PeopleBooks is PeopleSoft's developers guide which has the technical and functional reference covering all the areas of the product. These books do not typically provide step-by-step instructions on using tables, pages, and menus. Instead, they contain information needed to use the system most effectively and to implement a PeopleSoft application.