Outsourced services provider says "Oracle economy" improving
by Staff -- Manufacturing Business Technology, 8/1/2005 12:00:00 AM
While Oracle's acquisition of suite vendor PeopleSoft—and more recently, retail solutions provider Retek—spawned a level of uncertainty among employees and customers alike, the deals have energized what enterprise application services provider Sierra Atlanticcalls the "Oracle economy," to the extent that this particular Oracle partner is redoubling its Oracle commitment.
"Two years ago, when Oracle announced the hostile takeover of PeopleSoft, we saw Oracle's application business as not very vibrant, and we were expanding our business to include SAP and others," says Marc Hebert, executive VP, Sierra Atlantic.
Sierra Atlantic, founded in 1992 around the offshore delivery model, was from its inception closely aligned with Oracle. Hebert, Oracle's first CIO, was recruited by Sierra Atlantic in 1999. His role in launching Oracle Manufacturing, the company's first vertical application, fit well with Sierra Atlantic's heavy customer focus in manufacturing and distribution.
"It's been a surprise to many that Oracle has executed as well as it has on managing its acquisitions," Hebert says. "Overall, customers have settled down and are figuring out a strategy [so that] Oracle won't lose many customers." As a result, Hebert adds, "we've decided to focus on Oracle and not build our SAP practice as planned."
Last year, Sierra Atlantic was named Oracle's e-Business Suite partner of the year in Malaysia, where it is Oracle's primary integrator. Sierra has 900 employees, with 80 percent based in India. In addition to Oracle and PeopleSoft accounts, it also works with Agile Software and Siebel Systems users.
