Going Legacy with PeopleSoft
A Third Option - Running PeopleSoft in Legacy Mode
Posted on 1/9/2007 (originally published in print on 1/1/2005)
by Doug Daniels
With so many PeopleSoft customers in Oracle-induced confusion, many are starting to question their options for the future. Wall Street and various software pundits agree that Oracle wants the PeopleSoft customer base, but not necessarily the PeopleSoft technology. Indeed, following its own oft-cited advice of simplification, Oracle will likely not tolerate multiple application code bases once the acquisition dust settles. After all, Oracle has already spent years and millions of dollars building its own application platform infrastructure – the Oracle 11i E-Business Suite. Thus, the long term application platform of choice is obvious for Oracle and it doesn't include COBOL's.
Two obvious choices then exist for current PeopleSoft customers. One, tow the party line and follow Redwood Shores-based Oracle Corporation down the Apache-Java-Oracle-Linux migration path to an Oracle-based, yet partly open-sourced, future. The second option, certainly under discussion in many corporate boardrooms today, is jumping ship to SAP or another third party enterprise application vendor. Either way, migration off of PeopleSoft will entail large up-front costs and consume a significant portion of future IT budget outlays.
However, a third way does exist. Many PeopleSoft customers are disgusted enough with the whole Oracle acquisition business to throw up their arms and put their PeopleSoft application into 'legacy mode'. Placing PeopleSoft into the legacy application portfolio does have several advantages, including the substantial economic benefit of not paying high maintenance fees to anyone once you, 'go legacy'. And don't forget the services bill for migration to another system. For many, going legacy will save money – BIG money.
In this article we examine the issues that PeopleSoft shops face if considering a legacy deployment. We define legacy mode as a PeopleSoft system that no longer consumes or requires manufacturer-issued application updates from PeopleSoft or its successor; and is deployed with the intent to be maintained for a decade or longer. We look at the three issues of people, process, and architecture.
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