PeopleSoft Sucks: Why Enterprise software creates more problems than it solves
I came across PeopleSoft Hinders Review of Aid Applications, an article describing how my Alma Mater’s implementation of Peoplesoft is causing delays in processing financial aid applications, which contains an amazing quote:
12 days after classes started, about 750 students’ financial aid applications are still being processed due to complications from the implementation of PeopleSoft. PeopleSoft replaced JustTheFacts software and now manages students’ personal, academic, bursar and financial aid information.
“The PeopleSoft system is much more labor-intensive than our previous financial system,” stated Davis. “We estimate that it takes three to four times longer to review and process a financial aid application in PeopleSoft than it did in our former financial aid system.”
Well, “This can’t be that bad,” I thought and headed over to the student management system to check it out for myself. Then, I got hit by an ancient-looking ugly, non-functional GUI:
Clicking on any of the links that might interest me (grades, transcripts, etc) led me to the following “nice pages”:
The back/forward buttons don’t work
Whoah, where did this come from?
Another random error
Yep, Peoplesoft definitely sucks. And, I don’t blame Cornell for it–except for making the original bad decision to migrate from a working, if not archaic, system. Nay, I blame Peoplesoft (recently rebranded as Oracle Peoplesoft. Here’s some juicy quotes from other IT professionals:
- “It’s a horribly designed piece of crap. They don’t use referential integrity *and* they duplicate data all over the place in the database. Their UI is like something out of Windows 1.0 days.” – Joel on Software
- “It is the single worst example of web-based software I have ever seen. Ever.” – Jason
- “It’s web browsing in the 19th century. Lots of backing up and clunky navigation menus laden with far too much non-intuitive information.” – Dee-Rob
- “the syntax, which seemed arcane at best and totally unusable at worst” – John
A cute Facebook group, Cornell must be held accountable for Peoplesoft issues, and another Cornell story, New CoursEnroll Software Causes Distress, Difficulties, explains how the initial rollout was also fraught with difficulties:
Yeh said that although the system was marked by a number of problems, nearly 3,200 students out of the approximately 3,700 who needed to enroll were able to do so successfully. Course requests that were not approved before the system went down were entered into the system automatically.
[T]he preparation for the replacement began back in 1995 when Cornell administrators began watching how other schools used PeopleSoft. Cornell and company began to develop the new program together. Yeh did not know how expensive the program was to develop.
The moral of the story? Sometimes rolling your own software is better than buying and adapting. Especially for giant applications.
Apple’s Email Advertising Inconsistencies
I got the following advertisement in my inbox just now for an Apple mac. It’s part of their student campaign, so I receive the emails to my old Cornell address. At first glance, it seems innocuous, but think carefully about the contradiction inherent in the panels:
A free iPod touch. Another reason to get a Mac for school.
Reminder: A free iPod isn’t the only reason a Mac makes sense.
1. Runs Office, Vista, and XP.
2. Has built-in WiFi.
3. Doesn’t get those PC viruses.
4. Comes ready to video chat.
5. Does so much more with photos and movies.
6. Delivers course materials and more via iTunes U.
Let’s put this together. According to Apple, the number one selling point for marketing their Macbook computers to students is that existing Microsoft software–Office, Windows Visa, and Windows XP can all be run on the Macbook. Don’t tell me that somehow magically, when Windows is running on Apple’s hardware, that all the malware, viruses, worms, and spyware written for Windows will suddenly stop working or infecting your PC. Yet their #3 point is that the Macbook “won’t get those PC viruses.”
Sorry Apple, the Macbook will definitely get PC viruses if it’s running Windows–which you suggest it should be.
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