Oracle: Welcome, please try again later

Oracle technology may help power some of the world's busiest Web sites, including Amazon.com and eBay, but a Webcast speech by CEO Larry Ellison brought his own company's site to a halt on Tuesday.

The site was swamped as thousands attempted to tune in to watch Ellison deliver his first speech since his company acquired software rival PeopleSoft early this month and subsequently laid off 5,000 of PeopleSoft's workers. Teleconference lines were also jammed; a recorded message told callers that the line was full and to call back later.

The Ellison talk was part of a half-day launch event for the newly merged company, which took place at Oracle's headquarters in Redwood Shores, Calif.

The event was meant to welcome thousands of corporate PeopleSoft customers into the Oracle fold, but some that experienced Webcast glitches were not impressed.

"What a bust!" wrote Eric Smith, a staffer at the New York State Teacher's Retirement System, in an e-mail to CNET News.com. "PeopleSoft used to be able to give a Webcast that worked."

Smith said he was finally able to launch the Webcast an hour after the event started, but even then the quality was poor, with images freezing and audio cutting out.

Oracle said the problem was temporary and that more than 17,000 people either viewed the live Webcast or called in via teleconference.

"We understand it was a short-term problem," an Oracle representative said. "I guess there was a big push for Larry."