Oracle eyes larger pie in small firms biz from its digital hub in Bengaluru

The US software major to assist SMBs in transitioning their operations to the cloud platform

Software major Oracle looks to tap the small and medium businesses (SMBs) in India through its dedicated digital hub in Bengaluru. The US-based company said it would help a large chunk of the 51 million businesses in India in transitioning their operations to the cloud platform through its second global digital hub in Karnataka's capital city, after Dublin in the Europe. Four other similar hubs would come up in Sydney, Singapore, Seoul and Beijing soon.

Oracle said it would provide cloud applications, platform, and infrastructure services, as standalone and packaged products, to small businesses through a subscription and pay-as-you-use model. While small businesses can buy cloud applications and other solutions completely online, a team consisting of 200-odd people would participate in the transformation journey of several startups and small and mid-size businesses. The team would be constituted of software engineers and sales executives.

Shailender Kumar, Regional Managing Director, Oracle India, said the company has recruited several 'customer success' managers to implement cloud-based solutions and applications faster in their clients' businesses.

The company has witnessed a major shift globally with a faster turnaround in the digital technology business through a higher growth of cloud-based services. Oracle's traditional software services business remained static, while revenues from its new software licensing declined by 4 per cent during the fourth quarter (March to May 2017).

Shailender Kumar

"Oracles' total cloud revenues in the fourth quarter stood at $1.4 billion, up 66 per cent from last year, while the total on-premise software revenues were $7.5 billion, essentially unchanged from last year," said Safra Catz, chief executive officer, Oracle during the earnings call for the  quarter on June 21.

"There are over 51 million SMBs in India, many of them have not worked with Oracle or used cloud services before. They now have access to these modern solutions in the market, available directly on the online platform,  via the Bengaluru digital hub and also through our expanded end-to-end ecosystem, working with the vast network in India. The increased choice in cloud technology will help accelerate their ability to innovate and grow faster," said Kumar.