Mobile-first workforce to drive SaaS Cloud growth in India, says Prasad Rai, Oracle India

As more and more businesses in India shift their focus to building a mobile-first workforce, Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) Cloud solutions will connect not only people to solutions but also networked devices, machinery and products in the near future, a top Oracle India executive said on. With over 40 per cent of all business owners using their smartphones daily to manage their operations, the demand for mobile applications and solutions is increasing significantly in the country.

“We will see streamlined mobile dashboards, allowing users to increase sales and track, and tag and convert more leads from anywhere, at any time,” Prasad Rai, Vice President-Applications at Oracle India, told IANS. “Emerging technologies like Artificial Intelligence (AI), Machine Learning (ML) and predictive analytics will also be better integrated to transform customer experiences through SaaS solutions and open new avenues for revenue generation,” Rai emphasised.

Last year was a “pivotal” year in expanding Public Cloud service adoption globally, according to market research firm IDC. SaaS remains the largest bucket by some distance at $74.8 billion globally, with IDC predicting the SaaS market will hit $163 billion by 2022.

The SaaS market — accounting for 72 per cent of the total Public Cloud services market and forecast to grow at 20 per cent (CAGR) over the forecast period — is dominated by Cloud solutions such as enterprise resource management (ERM) and customer relationship management (CRM).

“At Oracle, we are observing a substantial year-on-year growth in our SaaS revenues, making India one of the significant contributors to the APAC revenues for Oracle,” Rai noted. The Cloud major sees the demand for its SaaS solutions coming from industries like manufacturing, retail, hospitality, social welfare, engineering and construction, logistics, oil and gas, etc.

“Industries governed by regulatory compliances like governments, banks, insurance agencies, telecom operators and IT services continue to see benefits from Oracle SaaS solutions,” Rai told IANS.

Oracle is enabling businesses of all sizes in the country to innovate and to succeed in the cloud. “The simplicity of our solution and quick deployment ability — some in as less as 30 days — comprehensive SaaS portfolio and a 600-strong partner ecosystem are some of the factors attracting customers to Oracle SaaS. We are the fastest-growing Cloud company in the world today,” Rai informed.

Oracle last week reported revenue of $9.2 billion for its fiscal first quarter (Q1 2019) — up from $9.1 billion in the same period last year. “The vast majority of ERP applications running in the Cloud today are either Oracle Fusion or Oracle NetSuite systems,” said Oracle CEO Mark Hurd.

“The Oracle Fusion ERP customer count is now nearly 5,500, while the NetSuite ERP customer count is over 15,000. Virtually every analyst ranks Oracle as the market leader in Cloud ERP,” Hurd added.

Oracle expects more and more organisations going for advanced solutions to eliminate redundancy and create harmony, with a unified Cloud suite like ERP and HR as an integrated single Cloud offering. Oracle ERP Cloud’s biggest contribution to Religare Healthcare Trust (RHT) has been the reduction of the time spent on routine transactional activities.

“ERP Cloud has helped RHT streamline its several databases and related information. As a result, RHT is now no longer dependent on manual checks and balances,” informed Rai.

With Oracle “Taleo” solution, BPM services firm Genpact has successfully enhanced experience for its workforce. “Oracle ‘Taleo’ has helped Genpact in bringing down onboarding time from one day to one hour, while ensuring compliance to processes,” said Rai.

Oracle’s human capital management (HCM) Cloud offering has helped Airtel adapt a culture of ownership by driving employee practices from HR-led mechanisms towards a more self-service mode.

“All employee-relevant information and services, such as those related to payroll and performance, have been made available online, with automation helping reduce time, better employ resources while making processes more regular at Airtel,” said the Oracle executive.

Keeping the changing SaaS trends in mind, Oracle is organising an “Impact for Business” event in Mumbai and Delhi this week, showcasing the emerging technologies in the SaaS segment. According to Rai, emerging technologies like AI, Automation and Blockchain have triggered strong stimulation and are driving discussions across the board.

“The purpose of ‘Impact for Business’ event is to showcase how all these innovations are embedded in our Cloud offerings so there is no need to purchase any additional solutions and how we differentiate ourselves from competitors,” Rai noted.