Oracle has been crafting its Fusion suite from pieces of its applications and the PeopleSoft and J.D. Edwards software it acquired early this year. Oracle is also expected to incorporate technology gained from other acquisitions -- including Retek Inc. and Siebel Systems Inc. -- in Fusion, which is slated to be completed in 2007.
The recent survey of almost 300 members of the Quest International Users Group found that almost 80 percent of them consider support for the IBM iSeries server, formerly known as the AS/400 line, to be vital for Fusion.
Quest, originally formed by users of J.D. Edwards software, announced the results of the survey last week.
Keeping the iSeries as a platform of choice for Fusion was more important to most respondents than pricing or functionality, Quest officials said. Many users of the former J.D. Edwards World and EnterpriseOne software rely on the iSeries hardware and want the option of keeping it, said Quest President John Matelski. Infrastructure Freedom
Matelski, deputy CIO of the city of Orlando, said the survey data indicated that "most customers do not want to be forced to a new infrastructure and will consider other options if forced to."
The city of Orlando runs EnterpriseOne financials on the iSeries.
Fred Pond, a past Quest president, also wants to see IBM support maintained.
If Fusion is to be the best of PeopleSoft, J.D. Edwards and Oracle software, then Oracle has to provide multiple infrastructure choices, he said.
However, Pond, director of information services at Schnitzer Steel Industries Inc. in Portland, Ore., said that as the development of Fusion continues, some users fear that instead of a compilation of multiple technologies, it will look "more like an upgrade of the [Oracle] E-Business suite." Schnitzer uses EnterpriseOne.
"We would like to see [Fusion] operate on the iSeries platform and with the DB2 database," said Bubba Tyler, CIO at Conshohocken, Pa.-based Quaker Chemical Corp., an EnterpriseOne shop.
"Otherwise, we will have to reinvest in infrastructure, training and support, and this added expense would bring no additional value to us," he said.
If support for the IBM server line is dropped, 29 percent of those surveyed said they wouldn't migrate to Fusion, while 50 percent said they weren't sure if they would upgrade under those conditions.
Support of IBM software is also critical, since 85 percent of respondents use IBM's DB2 database and 67 percent use it exclusively.
Oracle declined to comment on the survey.