State CIOs Call Off Breakfast With Oracle

State CIOs meeting at a suburban Phoenix resort this week canceled a scheduled Thursday breakfast meeting with a top Oracle official, saying it's inappropriate for government officials as a group to hold a private session with a vendor.

Oracle requested the breakfast session so it could explain its rationale behind its acquisition of PeopleSoft Inc. Many states use Oracle databases and PeopleSoft enterprise products. The National Association of State CIOs told Oracle it wouldn't sponsor such a session, yet didn't initially object when the vendor scheduled a breakfast at the conference site, the Camelback Marriott Resort in Scottsdale, Ariz., and invited the CIOs.

But when they first got together on Sunday in a CIO-only session, they nearly unanimously agreed such a session would be inappropriate and asked Oracle to cancel the event. Oracle did cancel the breakfast and understood the state CIOs' reasoning, says NASCIO president and Missouri CIO Gerry Wethington. "This is a market issue and Oracle should get word to CIOs through conventional ways, such as account managers," Wethington says. "This isn't an issue the CIOs should be in the middle of."

State CIOs are very concerned about not appearing to favor one vendor over another, which they contend is improper for high-ranking government officials. When NASCIO does meet with vendors as a group, such as through its Corporate Leadership Council, all vendors are invited.

This story courtesy of InformationWeek.