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2010- The perfect storm for the PeopleSoft community

2010- The perfect storm for the PeopleSoft community

The PeopleSoft community is building towards a perfect storm in 2010. There are many factors contributing to this growth and many different events occurring simultaneously which will lead to 2010 being a huge year for PeopleSoft customers, consulting firms, and VARS. Unlike the movie, this perfect storm will be fun!!

Let’s start with the upcoming product releases and explain what they will accomplish and how the timing creates a cyclone of activity. PeopleSoft has not released applications since version 9.0 which was over 3 years ago. Oracle had planned to release version 9.1 during the spring of 2009, however, has held off due to enhancements and the economic climate. Unlike Captain George Clooney, patience was observed and the timing foreshadows opportunity for the community.

PeopleSoft has accompanied the 9.1 release with the anterior release of People Tools version 8.50. Version 8.50 is utilizing many aspects of web based technology and enhances some of the weaker areas of previous releases such as reporting. This should be the most dynamic release of People Tools to date.

The combination of PeopleSoft applications release 9.1 and the People Tools release version 8.50 creates a solid balance. The enhancements are clear, the product strategy roadmap is definitive, and leadership has taken action leading to improved quality. The multiple enhancements all point towards a stronger PeopleSoft community.

With the economy picking up steam in Quarter 3 and the Dow approaching 10,000 (9,791 at market close on 9/16) companies have begun to change their philosophies. The idea of trying to stop the bleeding has changed to stabilization and is quickly moving into growth mode. Budgets are loosening up and companies are getting aggressive towards executing their growth plans.

I have seen many companies continue planning to implement new functionality without completing the project. With the stabilization and strengthening of internal teams, an opportune moment is created to enact these project plans. The economic slowdown has created a backlog of IT work within PeopleSoft organizations.

An idea that has haunted PeopleSoft users for many years is Oracle Fusion. What is going to happen to the applications and how will that affect their investment? Customers are now comfortable with the Oracle/PeopleSoft relationship and believe that PeopleSoft will continue to be supported and improvements will be developed. The 9.1 release confirms this idea and allows companies to implement and upgrade PeopleSoft with confidence.

In conclusion, the PeopleSoft community should prepare for an exciting year in 2010. The year will include normalization of consulting rates, new functionality to be implemented, and growth in the PeopleSoft community. The outcome of this perfect storm will be more favorable for us than Captain Clooney’s crew!!

Written by Patrick Donlin 9/16/2009

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Comment by Murali Vanamamalai on September 28, 2009 at 4:03pm: Excellant Article. This is what we need in this climate to boost up our senses. To answer Toots Sacros, H1 is a more complicated subject and here are some of the things I can suggest to make you feel better.
1) H1 consultant supply is equally affecting all other skills including peoplesoft.
2) H1 pool has same access to new technologies is completely True. But only people who are really smart or really good learners can only take full advantage of them. So it puts us in a level playing field.
3) H1 consultants I have seen are demanding and in some cases actually making equal or more hourly rate than their citizen/green card counter parts. This is because they always have to go thru one additional layer then other and so it increases the cost and it does not drive rate reduction so much.
4) I think outsourcing is the one that is killing the rates more than H1. Again we cannot stop outsourcing.
5) I think the companies get in to the "Frenzy" mode whenever the economy picks up. I am not saying that it is the right thing to do, but the companies suddenly will be not cost concious(instead will be speed conscious - they want everything to be done today) and overspend on everything till the next recession and sddenly they will layoff 5000 employees to make up the loss. This trend will continue. We cannot have a Sorbanes-oxley or something to prevent this.

Comment by Toots Sarcos on September 23, 2009 at 3:11pm: I would agree with most points perhaps except for the "normalization of consulting rates". You have to realize that we have a huge H1 consultant supply market, so if the customer does not require citizenship, then rates should stay fairly the same as today if not worse. I heard that H1 consultants CANNOT be out of work for 3 months, otherwise they are forced to leave the US. That means that they would be willing to get any rate just to be employed or stay employed.

The H1 supply pool have the same access, if not better, to the new technologies.

Comment by PSoftPros on September 22, 2009 at 7:56am: This is an excellent article Patrick! I have to agree with you. I have already seen a positive move in the PeopleSoft market, since labor day. It seems that many organizations that have been sitting on their budgets are now starting to spend. With the release of 9.1 and PeopleTools 8.50, we should see a very good 4th quarter and first half of 2010.