"Shocked" world says: "who doesn"t?"
Oracle attorneys displayed internal PeopleSoft documents during testimony Thursday that showed the company was indeed concerned about growing competition in business applications from Microsoft and Lawson Software.
The evidence presented in San Francisco federal court contradicted the Justice Department"s view that PeopleSoft competes primarily against SAP and Oracle.
Oracle is attempting a hostile takeover of PeopleSoft, a chief rival in the market for software packages that businesses use to manage payroll, human resources and related functions. The Justice Department is trying to block that move, contending that it would leave Oracle and German rival SAP as the only significant companies in the market--dominating without enough competition. Oracle is arguing that other viable contenders abound.
After Microsoft announced in late 2000 it was buying Great Plains Software, PeopleSoft executive Renee Lorton sent out an e-mail: "Breaking News. Microsoft buys Great Plains. Yikes!" In the missive, addressed to Ram Gupta, she wrote that PeopleSoft "should be shaking in our boots," characterizing Microsoft"s move as "a gun at our and Oracle"s back."