IBM wins PeopleSoft’s DNA

PeopleSoft has elected to turn over responsibility for infrastructure and middleware to IBM. The announcement of a strategic alliance last month means that PeopleSoft has taken a different path to that of rivals SAP and Oracle, preferring instead to focus on business applications and accepting that standards-based web portal frameworks for enterprise backbones are the way to go. Analysts like AMR suggest that it augers well for the development of services-orientated architectures with ready integration and interoperability, and that IBM is the big winner. AMR points out that if Oracle takes over PeopleSoft then the deal will be off, but for now it’s another big win for IBM WebSphere messaging and standards. Ultimately, with connectivity between SAP’s Netweaver approach and the others a foregone conclusion, this is unlikely to be a serious consideration in choosing between systems – unless of course, the R&D money spent solely on everything to do with applications wins out.