Is Oracle losing its appetite for PeopleSoft at all?
No, not at all. I came from Wall Street. We've been through this before. It's the process. We are a very persistent company in everything we do. We're not deterred when something's hard.
Does this battle compare to any you saw as a Wall Street analyst?
IBM and Lotus went through the same thing. That was a hostile transaction, and it takes time to get it done. But shareholders have the right to get it done, if someone wants to give them money.
What's next if PeopleSoft falls through? Would Oracle try to acquire another applications company or an infrastructure company?
The PeopleSoft deal is just one we're working on. We have options on a lot of companies that want to be bought by Oracle. We can't get specific on who we're looking at, but there are many that would love to wear the Oracle red and white.
Is Oracle still in direct communication with PeopleSoft -- aside from lawsuits, that is?
They have been unresponsive to all of our requests. We've tried calls, mail, carrier pigeons -- we've made plenty of overtures. They know where we are.
Are you still actively lobbying institutional investors to support Oracle?
We think they already do support us. That's not the issue. Shareholders buy stocks for one reason: to sell them at a higher price later. These aren't collector's items. There's no reason for them to oppose it.
Can you clarify what would be your official policy on migration and support if the deal were to close tomorrow?
There's no pressure for anyone to migrate. If customers want to continue with PeopleSoft, that's fine. It remains a nice and profitable business for us. They'll continue to pay maintenance. But if they choose to migrate, they'll get a licence on the spot. So they won't lose any options; they'll gain more.
You used to be an enterprise software analyst, and now in your current position, you have a unique vantage point. What's your feel for the first half of the year for enterprise software, given the seeming rebound in the economy?
We're seeing some signs of improvement. Certainly, it feels better than a year ago, but it's still a delicate recovery, and we don't want to get too bullish. But it feels like the worst is over, and we feel we're in a good position to capitalise and take market share. But we continue to feel that the amount of money spent on information technology is not going to boom. People spent too much in the boom. We're not counting on a big increase in IT spending.
Ergo Larry Ellison's dictum that there needs to be more industry consolidation?
Yeah. So the pie won't probably expand, but if we do it right, we'll probably get a bigger slice of it.
