Microsoft offers cuts to entice PeopleSoft customers from Oracle

By Stuart Finlayson

Jan 11, 2005: Despite protestations from Microsoft during the Oracle-PeopleSoft antitrust trial that it had no immediate plans to target the enterprise level of the business applications software market, the software giant is doing just that through the introduction of a program to help PeopleSoft customers migrate to Microsoft apps.

The program, which has been announced just as Oracle finally closed the long, protracted deal to acquire PeopleSoft, is looking to woo disgruntled PeopleSoft customers by offering incentives to migrate to its Microsoft Business Solutions Great Plains ( for enterprise customers) and its MBS Axapta (for small to medium businesses). These incentives include a 25 percent license discount as well as a 25 percent discount for the first year of participation in Microsoft Business Solutions support and enhancement programs. These incentives are available to customers that license a Microsoft Business Solutions application no later than June 22 this year.

"Businesses that use PeopleSoft technology are facing some difficult choices today, and we're committed to providing them with the best options for moving forward," said Doug Burgum, senior vice president at Microsoft, in a statement. "Today's announcement is evidence of our ongoing commitment to working closely with PeopleSoft customers and partners to help them migrate to Microsoft Business Solutions in a smooth, cost-effective manner, and on a schedule that best accommodates their business needs."

Despite the pitch, Microsoft insists it is not a departure from its earlier claim that it was not looking to compete at the high end, as Tami Reller, vice president of the Microsoft Business Solutions Group, said a number of issues still exist as to whether Microsoft had the ability to offer a large enterprise customer the type of functionality the likes of PeopleSoft and Oracle provide. But Reller qualified this by saying that a substantial part of PeopleSoft's business does fall within Microsoft's capabilities, including divisions of large corporations and large enterprises, and it was these customers its latest offer was aimed at, as well as the SME market.

It is unclear how successful Microsoft's poaching efforts will be overall, but it seems unlikely that many very large customers will be enticed by the prospect of discounted software, as they will have in most cases already committed millions of dollars to their PeopleSoft installations and will be reluctant to write off that investment by virtue of a rip and replace move.

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