Peoplesoft Inc - Early History

EARLY HISTORY

PeopleSoft's roots go back to 1987, when Ken Morris and David Duffield founded the company. Although Morris eventually parted ways with People-Soft, Duffield remained with the company as its leader. He became popular for maintaining a culture where people were valued, soft drinks were on the house, and pets were welcome. After graduating from Cornell University with an MBA and an undergraduate degree in electrical engineering, Duffield worked as a systems engineer and marketing representative for IBM. He then co-founded Information Associates, a company that developed systems for higher education, and established Integral Systems, a firm that developed accounting and human resources software. According to the company, as chairman of PeopleSoft Duffield was "the driving force behind the company's vision, product, market direction, and commitment to services."

Morris and Duffield established PeopleSoft to develop business software exclusively for client-server environments. At the time, this was a somewhat progressive approach because mainframe computer applications were more commonplace. Many enterprises were faced with the challenge of moving from one environment to the other, and PeopleSoft's products found a niche. The company unveiled PeopleSoft Human Resources Management Systems in 1988. Over time, the company's dominance in this business segment would grow until it attained market share of 50 percent.