Former Oracle President Phillips Lands C.E.O. Gig at Infor
It took Charles E. Phillips Jr., the former co-president of Oracle, all of about six weeks to find a new job.
Charles Phillips will become the chief executive of Infor, which makes business software.Oracle Charles Phillips will become the chief executive of Infor, which makes business software.
On Monday, Mr. Phillips, who stepped down from his Oracle post last month, will show up as the new chief executive of Infor, a business software maker based in Atlanta. The company’s claim to fame, if you can call it that, is owning the largest business software franchise no one has ever heard of. Infor sells about $2 billion worth of software per year, mostly to midsized companies.
“This is a rare opportunity to be the chief executive of an applications company with real scale,” Mr. Phillips said. “I am thrilled to be doing this.”
A vigorous game of executive musical chairs has been taking place in the business software market.
The same day that Mr. Phillips left Oracle, the company tapped Mark V. Hurd, the former chief executive of Hewlett-Packard, to fill the role vacated by Mr. Phillips.
H.P. then named Léo Apotheker, the former head of SAP, as its new chief executive.
Since its founding in 2002, Infor has tried to go after smaller customers neglected by the likes of SAP, Oracle and I.B.M. It built up its business selling software for the manufacturing and financial services sectors and then filled out its portfolio through 70 acquisitions.
Today, Infor sells a wide range of products like customer relationship management, expense management, work force management and supply chain management software.
“A lot of our competitors talk about going after the midmarket – some with varying degrees of success,” said Jim Schaper, Infor’s former chief executive who will stay on as chairman. “We were actually built to serve the midmarket.”
As for Oracle, SAP and other big players’ aspirations for the midmarket, Mr. Phillips said: “That has been a desire for decades. It’s just very hard to do.”
Mr. Phillips joins a very long list of former top Oracle executives who have left only to compete with the company and its chief executive, Lawrence J. Ellison.
“I have spoken to Larry,” Mr. Phillips said. “He is quite proud to produce another C.E.O. in the industry.”
Infor plans to release a new product platform in January and the presence of Mr. Phillips is sure to draw added attention to these wares.
Mr. Phillips will continue to have the company headquartered in Atlanta – the same city where he went to high school.
“I have a lot of connections down there,” Mr. Phillips said. “To me, that was a big plus.”
Infor appears to be on track to file for an initial public offering or certainly to be acquired by the likes of Oracle, SAP and I.B.M. — which seem to gobble up every middleware maker in sight.
“One of the challenges of any company that makes over 70 acquisitions is just getting the back office prepared to be a public filer,” Mr. Schaper said. “All of that is behind us now. The markets will determine if this is an I.P.O. candidate and when.”
Charles Phillips will become the chief executive of Infor, which makes business software.Oracle Charles Phillips will become the chief executive of Infor, which makes business software.
On Monday, Mr. Phillips, who stepped down from his Oracle post last month, will show up as the new chief executive of Infor, a business software maker based in Atlanta. The company’s claim to fame, if you can call it that, is owning the largest business software franchise no one has ever heard of. Infor sells about $2 billion worth of software per year, mostly to midsized companies.
“This is a rare opportunity to be the chief executive of an applications company with real scale,” Mr. Phillips said. “I am thrilled to be doing this.”
A vigorous game of executive musical chairs has been taking place in the business software market.
The same day that Mr. Phillips left Oracle, the company tapped Mark V. Hurd, the former chief executive of Hewlett-Packard, to fill the role vacated by Mr. Phillips.
H.P. then named Léo Apotheker, the former head of SAP, as its new chief executive.
Since its founding in 2002, Infor has tried to go after smaller customers neglected by the likes of SAP, Oracle and I.B.M. It built up its business selling software for the manufacturing and financial services sectors and then filled out its portfolio through 70 acquisitions.
Today, Infor sells a wide range of products like customer relationship management, expense management, work force management and supply chain management software.
“A lot of our competitors talk about going after the midmarket – some with varying degrees of success,” said Jim Schaper, Infor’s former chief executive who will stay on as chairman. “We were actually built to serve the midmarket.”
As for Oracle, SAP and other big players’ aspirations for the midmarket, Mr. Phillips said: “That has been a desire for decades. It’s just very hard to do.”
Mr. Phillips joins a very long list of former top Oracle executives who have left only to compete with the company and its chief executive, Lawrence J. Ellison.
“I have spoken to Larry,” Mr. Phillips said. “He is quite proud to produce another C.E.O. in the industry.”
Infor plans to release a new product platform in January and the presence of Mr. Phillips is sure to draw added attention to these wares.
Mr. Phillips will continue to have the company headquartered in Atlanta – the same city where he went to high school.
“I have a lot of connections down there,” Mr. Phillips said. “To me, that was a big plus.”
Infor appears to be on track to file for an initial public offering or certainly to be acquired by the likes of Oracle, SAP and I.B.M. — which seem to gobble up every middleware maker in sight.
“One of the challenges of any company that makes over 70 acquisitions is just getting the back office prepared to be a public filer,” Mr. Schaper said. “All of that is behind us now. The markets will determine if this is an I.P.O. candidate and when.”
