PeopleSoft Inc on Tuesday announced the appointment of Craig Conway as chief executive officer, replacing founder David Duffield, who will remain chairman of the company’s board. The move was widely expected, as the Pleasanton, California-based enterprise software company looks to regain momentum after 12 months which have seen declining profits and a 45% erosion in its share price. PeopleSoft, like other ERP software vendors, has blamed the lion’s share of its recent woes on Y2K-related cutbacks in corporate spending.
The changing of the guard at PeopleSoft comes as the 12-year-old company tries to successfully optimize its traditional business software for the internet. It said Conway’s promotion marks the beginning of a new era at PeopleSoft, as the company takes a leading role as a provider of applications for e-business. The company, which employs 6,000 people and booked 1998 revenues of $1.3bn, recently launched PeopleSoft 8, a package of 100% internet-based applications.
Conway will add the CEO duties to his present role as president and chief operating officer, essentially handling corporate and product strategy as well as overseeing the company’s day-to-day business operations. Conway came to PeopleSoft in May from San Jose-based OneTouch Software Inc, where he served as president and chief executive until February. Prior to that, he was president and CEO at TGV Software Inc, a developer of IP network protocols and internet applications. Conway also spent eight years at Oracle Corp as executive vice president in a variety of roles including marketing, sales and operations.
Duffield had reportedly scaled back his day-to-day management of the company since Conway came on board and some industry watchers say he has been looking to relinquish the reins for about a year or so. As chairman, PeopleSoft says that Duffield will continue to take part in strategic decisions for the company in cooperation with the board and executive management team. He is slated to spend a large portion of his time working to build relationships with customers and employees. Of Conway, Duffield said, I’m confident that Craig is the right person to lead PeopleSoft into its next phase of growth as a multi-billion dollar company.
