Thinking small to make it big in Asia

Oracle is thinking small to make it big in Asia. If the Oracle Open World at Shanghai, which concluded here today, is any indication, the company sees a potential goldmine in the 44 million small sized enterprises in the region.

In India, for example, the small and medium enterprise (SME) sector accounts for 35-40 per cent of the total number of Oracle's customers in India. And the number keeps increasing by the day all over Asia, says Suresh Kalpathy, senior director for SME business, Oracle Asia Pacific.

Kalpathy says the company is seeing strong interest and initial uptake of its offerings among the SMEs in Asia Pacific. A lot of potential customers seem to be listening to him eagerly.

The mantra at the Open World was focus on small and medium enterprises, and the attendance crossed 7,000, surpassing the company's expectations by over a thousand.

A vast majority of the enquiries from potential customers, including those from India, was for the Oracle E-business Suite special edition, targeted at the SME sector.

Available exclusively from participating Oracle partners, the special edition can be implemented to achieve "go live" status in 10-40 days, using a rapid implementation technology. The company has appointed more than 30 partners across 12 countries in Asia-Pacific that can also provide specialised consulting services to companies.

The advantages, says Kalpathy, are many. Small organisations cannot afford to make mistakes and want quick returns on their investment. The special edition suite is designed to achieve these objectives. 'Our application systems can be implemented quickly, scale easily to support business growth and lower the total cost of the ownership of business systems. The momentum we are seeing is a vote of confidence for us," he says.

He cites the example of a small Indian company that brought down the time for closure of its books to 3 months from 6 months earlier. Another was able to increase its order processing time by 60 to 70 per cent. More than 60 small companies in Asia have already selected the special edition suite, and the list includes companies like Kale Consultants.

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• The company sees a potential goldmine in the 44 million small sized enterprises in the region.
• A vast majority of the enquiries from potential customers is for the Oracle E-business Suite special edition, targeted at the SME sector.
• The company has appointed more than 30 partners across 12 countries in Asia-Pacific that can also provide specialised consulting services to companies.