Hope to have greater say in development of new products Amid the hubbub of Oracle’s attempt to take over rival PeopleSoft, Oracle’s U.K. and Ireland user group said Wednesday that it is allying with the company’s U.S.-based user group in the hopes of having a greater say in the development of enterprise software maker’s new products.The Oracle Applications Users Group (OAUG), with headquarters in Atlanta, and the U.K. Oracle Users Group (UKOUG) will be teaming together to share database information, listservers, and negotiating power.However, UKOUG Operations Manager James Haslam said that discussion of Oracle’s unsolicited bid for PeopleSoft will probably be saved for Oracle’s AppsWorld conference in London next week. “We don’t get involved in the politics of Oracle, but that is something our members will probably discuss,” Haslam said.Since both groups have put a focus on communicating directly with Oracle on its product development, it will be interesting to see if and how users’ views affect the takeover attempt. The UKOUG has approximately 1,500 corporate member organizations, while the OAUG has more than 2,000 member companies worldwide.Although facing resistance from PeopleSoft, Oracle stepped up its bid for the company Wednesday, offering $6.3 billion while at the same time saying that it was suing PeopleSoft for “eliminating” PeopleSoft’s shareholders’ ability to accept the offer. Whatever PeopleSoft shareholders ultimately decide, Oracle users will most likely feel a direct effect. Members of the U.S. and U.K. users groups will at least get a chance to discuss the possibilities at AppsWorld, which runs from June 23 to June 26. Software Development