A “Leader and Innovator” for the Middle East

BM. Oracle and SAP are the market leaders. How does Infor expect to make a mark?
Paul Hammond. Infor has evolved over the last six years and we are already established as the 10th largest software company in the world. Perhaps more importantly, Infor is already recognised as a leader and innovator, with a different strategy that really does offer the market a viable, unique alternative.

Infor's strategy is to make business software better. We've made 35 astute, strategic, major acquisitions while annually we invest millions of dollars in R&D to further improve the software to make our business software better.

Fundamentally, Infor has already filled a huge gap in the enterprise software market. This gap has been left by the giants you mention who typically provide stability and a global presence but have generic, one-size-fits-all solutions. The drawback is that these type of solutions are expensive and resource intensive to implement and require substantial customisation, just to meet basic, business specific needs.

Until now, the only other choice has been to look at smaller niche vendors who provide feature-rich, industry specific solutions. We know this, as Infor has acquired some of the best players in the market. However, on many occasions these niche vendors lack financial stability and global reach - quite often they simply disappear off the map - that's not good if you are building your business around their technology. At Infor we have taken the very best of both choices to successfully fill the dilemma between the one-stop-generic-shop giants or the risky niche vendor with great functionality. Our strategy is proven. We have grown to having 70,000 customers worldwide and we're continuing to gain brand new customers organically in all regions - 2200 new name customers last year.

BM. What about Infor's successes in the Middle East?
PH. EMEA accounts for 41% of Infor's revenues - nearly a US$1billion and we have a very successful and growing business here in the Middle East, and I'm delighted to have joined Infor as the General Manager to further this success. The Infor brand name is actually relatively unknown in the region; however some of our acquired brands are very well established in the market, such as Baan (ERP), DataStream (Enterprise Asset Management), SunSystems (financials) and Epiphany (CRM) amongst others.

We have a very broad portfolio of business specific solutions that are widely deployed amongst our 800 plus customers across the region, comprising Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP); Supply Chain Management (SCM); Warehouse Management (WMS); Product Life Cycle Management (PLM) Enterprise Asset Management (EAM); Human Capital Management (HCM), Performance Management (PM) Financial Management (FM), Expense Management (XM) and of course Customer Relationship Management (CRM).

BM. In which areas has Infor been most successful?
PH. Taking the hotel market, just as one example, our Infor FMS SunSystems accounting software is sold in partnership with MICROS-Fidelio International - a leading provider of information technology solutions for the hospitality and retail industries, to over 2000 of the world's finest hotels. It is an integrated solution that has been adopted by 100s of hotels here in the Middle East.

One of the most pioneering companies in the region is a household brand hotel chain, which has embarked on a project to deploy part of our human capital management solution in order to improve customer service through improved management of its staff.

Another incredibly exciting area we see in the region is in enterprise asset management (EAM). One of our most fascinating projects is supporting Nakheel where we have successfully deployed Infor EAM Enterprise Edition to provide them with the tools to better manage their assets - from bridges, cranes to pumps, air conditioning systems and property maintenance requests. These can all now be serviced with an improved turnaround time to maximise productivity whilst minimising costs.

We're seeing incredible interest in these EAM solutions right throughout the region from Civil Aviation Affairs (CAA) Bahrain to SWCC in Saudi Arabia; it's a real sweet spot for any asset intensive industry.

BM. What is your go-to-market strategy for the Middle East, and is this likely to change?
PH. We sell both direct and through the channel, and we are about to embark upon a channel partner enhancement and recruitment campaign to bolster our offering in the region. Our approach to channel recruitment is focused on quality over quantity. We are not looking to take on dozens of partners and risk dilution of our focused approach, but a smaller number of partners that are well aligned with our products and company ethos and can articulate our unique 'making business software better' value proposition to customers.

Infor has also developed a series of 'business edition' suites for many of its enterprise software solutions. These are in effect template-based and designed for rapid implementation and setup - we are talking days and weeks here ­- whilst providing rich functionality and built-in best practices, making them ideally suited to the SMB market, regional, divisional or departmental level. They are equally ideal for those cases where an enterprise customer wants a rapid implementation to fulfil a pressing business requirement. At the customers' own pace they can then transition to the enterprise version at a later date to add advanced functionality to support their continued growth and evolving business objectives. This rapid time to value implementation will really resonate in the Gulf markets.

BM. What are the crucial areas for Middle East companies to concentrate on in the coming year?
PH. Focusing on becoming 'green' by being more energy efficient. Not just paying lip service to this current topic or turning out the occasional office light switch.

Most companies we talk to are still in the planning phase, trying to formulate their energy conservation or 'go-green plans. It is staggering that so much still needs to be done. According to a recent Plant Services survey, 80% of executives ranked energy as the most impactful variable on operating costs, yet many executives do not know where their energy is being spent. Energy and utility resources here in the Gulf cannot support the growing demand, hence costs will continue to rise and companies need to manage these costs carefully. Nakheel is a great example of this - implementing 'green' initiatives as a key business differentiator.

Energy costs are all part of a necessary efficiency drive for every organisation. For energy conservation, businesses need to select technology that gathers information on all facility assets that consume energy, such as AC chillers, generators and lighting. They then need to provide intelligence regarding optimal maintenance and replacement based upon energy consumption. By incorporating energy management into asset management, companies can now account for more than 90 cents of every dollar of operating cost.

BM. Where else should companies be looking for efficiency savings?
PH. Infor would also encourage Middle Eastern companies to take a holistic review. Replacing a machine may save hundreds of dollars on an electricity bill; altering a warehouse layout can save thousands; but optimizing the flow of goods from freezone to delivery can save millions.

We feel one of the most significant 'green' opportunities is in relation to the total supply chain and here it is critical to work with suppliers and customers to devise new ways of efficiently getting products into consumers' hands. All across the supply chain there are opportunities to reduce energy consumption and emissions. Reduce, rework, re-cycle, renew are becoming watchwords for the way to re-think supply chain strategy.

More strategically, companies will re-assess their sourcing strategies through newer, green tinted glasses and perhaps reverse some of the trends towards mass outsourcing that have been experienced in recent years.

To contact Infor's regional Middle East HQ telephone +971 4 391 4438 or email middle.east@infor.com. Alternatively, visit www.infor.com/middle_east.

Paul Hammond joined Infor in 2008 as GM and Regional VP for the Middle East. Having 20 years of Global IT experience, Hammond comes from webMethods where he established the company's Middle East operation. Prior to this, Hammond spent seven years in international sales at Veritas (since acquired by Symantec), his latter years heading up the oil & gas sector.