Politics as usual? No question this time - just advice. My most recent Keep the Joint Running discussed the issue of Oracle's attempted takeover of PeopleSoft. My point: Even ten years ago, our collective swing to the conservative hadn't gone so far that the Federal Trade Commission would even consider allowing a move like this. Now? I'm guessing the FTC won't do a thing, even though Oracle's stated purpose woul Politics as usual?No question this time – just advice.My most recent Keep the Joint Running discussed the issue of Oracle’s attempted takeover of PeopleSoft. My point: Even ten years ago, our collective swing to the conservative hadn’t gone so far that the Federal Trade Commission would even consider allowing a move like this. Now? I’m guessing the FTC won’t do a thing, even though Oracle’s stated purpose would leave only two serious players in the high-end ERP marketplace … not enough to maintain serious competition. Why bring politics into it? Quite a few readers either asked, or just told me it was a bad idea. The problem is, I didn’t bring politics into the situation. I just discussed the politics that were already there – namely, that the FTC is unlikely to block the move, and the illiberal press has yet to publish one opinion piece suggesting that this might be a worthwhile intervention on the part of our government.This matters to you as an IT leader, because if Oracle succeeds, if you’re a PeopleSoft customer you face a conversion; if you’re an Oracle customer your software provider is spending its money on hostile takeovers instead of product improvements; and if you’re an SAP customer you can no longer threaten to take your business elsewhere.You can’t rely on the government to protect your best interests. Businesses no longer win or lose solely in the marketplace. So it’s up to you to figure out your role in helping prevent this nonsense from taking place. Here’s my suggestion, reprinted from KJR: If you’re an Oracle customer, call your sales representative and Larry Ellison’s office to let them know you’d prefer they spend their money fixing their product line and offering better service, and if they won’t do that, you’ll consider a conversion to SAP.If you’re a PeopleSoft customer, call Larry Ellison’s office and explain that should Oracle buy PeopleSoft, your most likely course of action will be to convert to SAP.If you’re CIO of a Fortune 50 corporation, contact the folks who handle your company’s lobbying efforts, and ask them to use their clout to help block this deal before it goes any further. Don’t worry — this won’t make you a liberal. Lobbying the federal government to act in favor of your company’s best interests is in the best tradition of conservative politics. As I said, I’m not bringing politics into the discussion. They’re already there in front of you, whether you like them or not.– Bob ——– Technology Industry