India's potential untapped: Oracle

NEW DELHI: Unveiling the ERP product for the SME segment, Derek Williams, Exec VP of Oracle Corp’s Asia Pac division discussed the future of Oracle in India. Based at Singapore he looks after 29 countries in the region and is confident about the growth in India. He spoke with Shweta Khanna of Cyber News Service, about his understanding of the Indian market and future plans of Oracle for Indian operations.






Q. What kind of potential do you see in the Indian market?


India is one of the most important markets for us. First, it is one of the fastest growing economies, second it is gripping technology faster than most of the comparable markets and this faster adaptation will enable faster growth. India has four potential segments–e-Governance, Telecom, Manufacturing industry and BFSI. India’s potential is untapped and I share a dream for this country that it will be the #2 user of biz applications in the Asian region, surpassing Japan and second to China.





Q. Why do you think SME is a hot prospect?


There are 2.3 million SME segment entities in Asia and this segment is becoming a catalyst in the total growth of an organization like us. Around the world, 40 percent of our users are SMEs. Now with smaller shelf lives of the software and faster implementation time, our effort is to tap this market by providing faster, cheaper and smarter solutions.





Q. Why have you introduced this product in the Asian region first?


Asian market has a faster adoption time and is a growing economy. We wanted Asian region to trail blaze this SME focus.





Q. How do you rate the e-Governance initiatives by the Indian government?


Indian e-Governance initiatives could be rated as one of the best initiatives in the world. Our association with few states in India has been productive and I feel this same momentum will flow to the other states too.





Q. Do you think you would like to expand the IDC in India?


Our IDCs in India have been instrumental in various projects and products. Oracle’s investment plan is on. We have identified land for Hyderabad IDC and plan to increase workforce to 6,000 from present 3,195 in next 12 months.

(CNS)