IBM Partners Await Oracle's Database, App Server Plans

The big question that IBM partners are grappling with in the wake of the Oracle-PeopleSoft merger is whether Oracle will try to displace IBM's DB2 and WebSphere platform with its own product set.

Evan Walters, president and CEO of Innovative Information Solutions, a Waterbury, Conn., IBM partner, said he expects Oracle to eventually integrate its own database and application server with the PeopleSoft J.D. Edwards products. That said, a database and application server decision is a long-term one that will not be taken lightly by VARs or customers, he added.

"Does Oracle want the database and application server business? Absolutely," said Walters. "PeopleSoft is such a robust application that it is going to be a long-term strategy that is going to be carefully looked at before anyone makes any snap decisions about what they are doing with the database or the application server."

Walters pointed out that even though DB2 and WebSphere are integrated with PeopleSoft, Oracle is still an option for customers buying PeopleSoft. The merger could even eventually mean a much closer relationship between IBM and Oracle, as IBM moves to serve the many PeopleSoft customers running the Oracle database on IBM systems, Walters said. "It's not all about the database," he said.

Mark Hanny, IBM's vice president of ISV Alliances and Go To Market, stressed clients are not likely to rip out current DB2 or WebSphere infrastructures.

"It remains to be seen what will happen longer term with the partnerships," he said. "We work with a whole host of people in the marketplace. Where customers are working with us, we will continue to work with them. It really comes down to what the customers say. There is a whole host of really good business application providers in the market, and we'll continue to work with a whole host of them to go to market to better serve customers."