Users flee to Microsoft while fate of Oracle merger looms

Seattle Times | at | by Mike

Oracle's attempt to buy PeopleSoft is "destructive," but it's driving potential customers to Microsoft, said Orlando Ayala, an executive building a new business-software group at the Redmond company.

Ayala said customers affected by the merger have been calling Microsoft. He expects that uncertainty around the deal will help Microsoft as it makes a concerted push into the business-software market.

Microsoft is expanding its focus beyond the small business market with a growing line of business applications, productivity software and network computer software. The sales team has quotas to sell Microsoft's business-application software in addition to its software for desktop PCs and network server computers, Ayala said.