Event
Summary
On September
21, PeopleSoft's President and Chief Operating Officer Craig Conway, 44, took
full operational control of PeopleSoft, as its founder Dave Duffield, 58, stepped
aside from the day-to-day operations of the company. Duffield is credited with
creating an employee- and customer-friendly company, and will remain chairman
of the company. Conway came to PeopleSoft in May of this year from OneTouch
Systems (San Jose, California), which dealt with broadcast networks and distance
learning. Conway also spent eight years at PeopleSoft's rival Oracle (Redwood
Shores, California), as a vice president, in a variety of roles, including Marketing,
Sales, and Operations.
Market
Impact
Conway brings
to PeopleSoft a serious corporate image that was sometimes lacking in the laid-back
Duffield, who prided himself on having created a company with a family-like
atmosphere. PeopleSoft has waned in recent months with plummeting stock prices,
vacillating marketing messages, and sluggish sales. The company reported a 61%
decline in new license fees and a 92% profit drop in the second quarter of fiscal
1999.
User
Recommendations
PeopleSoft
is entering a new era, and Chapter 1 of its history book is now closed. A new
CEO usually brings a new vision and direction, and we expect the same from Conway,
who to this point, primarily addressed tactical issues as COO. Duffield's continued
presence as chairman should give assurance to PeopleSoft's employees and current
customers that the corporate culture will remain intact. However, organizations
currently evaluating PeopleSoft should keep a close eye on PeopleSoft's future
product development and support strategies, particularly how top management
will address the gaping holes in its latest product suite, including the lack
of a customer relationship management (CRM) product and poor market acceptance
of its manufacturing software.