The public sector is a big focus area for us: Oracle's Shailender Kumar

You will hear a lot of announcements, says Shailender Kumar

Tech giant Oracle has completed 30 years in India this year. The company has been a crucial partner in building the Indian technology (tech) landscape, where it supports 20,000 customers, powers over 29 states and Union Territories, and its tech platforms are the backbone of India’s financial sector. SHAILENDER KUMAR, senior vice-president and regional managing director, Oracle India, and NetSuite Japan and Asia-Pacific (JAPAC), tells Shivani Shinde, in a video interview, that India is the fastest-growing market for the company. Edited excerpts:

How do you see the past 30 years of Oracle’s journey in India?

It’s been a very satisfying journey. We support over 20,000 customers across enterprises, small and midsize businesses (SMBs), and the public sector. We have built a team of more than 45,000 employees. We are the only market outside Oracle’s headquarters to represent all divisions, including sales, marketing, consultants, support, and education operations for domestic, as well as global clients in the country.

In India, nearly every Oracle product has a dedicated team of engineers and developers. We talk about databases, middleware, and business applications (apps).

Our biggest milestones in the recent past have been the setting up of two Cloud regions — Mumbai in 2019 and Hyderabad in May 2020.

The public sector is a big focus area for us. You will hear a lot of announcements shortly. Currently, we have a partnership with NITI Aayog, Cargo Exchange, Open Network for Digital Commerce, the Department of Post, and the Ministry of Finance.

We have good dominance as a top Cloud service solutions provider and the fastest-growing Cloud company. We have made headway towards new territories, whether they are start-ups, fintech, edtech, or healthtech.

How has the Indian market changed over the years? How significant has it become for Oracle globally?

We started our journey on the software-as-a-service (SaaS) side in 2012–2013, followed by Fusion Enterprise Resource Planning, Fusion Human Capital Management, and our customer experience platform.

In terms of business momentum for India or across APAC, they continue to be one of the consistent and fastest-growing regions, growing at double-digit rates for Oracle and JAPAC across tech apps and other product solution portfolios. NetSuite is a 100 per cent partner-driven sales model, growing more than 100 per cent every year. If I had to see growth, it has come from banking, financial services and insurance, fintech, telecommunications, manufacturing, and the public sector.

A big focus remains SMBs, where we sell our Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI) and NetSuite.

How has Cloud adoption impacted your business here?

We have doubled our Cloud business, especially OCI, in three years. We witnessed 100 per cent Cloud consumption growth last year. Our Cloud renewal rates grew significantly, beyond 74 per cent for the full year. Our Cloud@Customer offering grew 35 per cent on-year.

The public sector has been a big focus for Oracle. How has the procurement of tech changed there?

The public sector vertical has grown by over 2x this year. The technical evaluation has become much more transparent, as have the commercial discussions.

How is Oracle looking into the generative artificial intelligence (AI) landscape?

Maybe 20 per cent have started implementing, and 80 per cent still evaluating. In the next six to eight months, every organisation will be using and deploying AI for its apps.

The tech world has been hit by global uncertainties, with many Big Tech companies trimming the flab. Oracle, too, has made an announcement. What impact did India have?

We have been operating in the country for three decades, and we have been privileged to experience strong growth momentum. We have our customers, our partners, and our colleagues to thank for.

If our business is growing, and in the last three to five years, the way we have doubled and look at what the International Data Corporation and Gartner are predicting, it becomes necessary that we drive investment where it matters.

Oracle recently came out with its fourth-quarter results. While other hyperscalers are growing slow, you have managed to see strong growth. What are some of the drivers?

The overall Indian public Cloud services market is expected to reach $13.5 billion by 2026, growing at a compound annual growth rate of 24 per cent. If I pick up the Gartner report, globally, SaaS makes up the largest share of the Cloud service market and more than 50 per cent of the overall software market.

The SaaS market is currently worth between $200 and $300 billion and is expected to double in size by 2025 and continue growing to $8 billion in revenue by the end of the decade. 

Most of our customers have been using our licences for decades. We brought to the market the lift-and shift-services because customers start their Cloud journeys depending on their needs from different places.

Innovation in products, services, and consumption has been the big game changer for us.

The tech world has been hit by global uncertainties, with many Big Tech companies trimming the flab. Oracle, too, has made an announcement. What impact did India have?

We have been operating in the country for three decades, and we have been privileged to experience strong growth momentum. We have our customers, our partners, and our colleagues to thank for.

If our business is growing, and in the last three to five years, the way we have doubled and look at what the International Data Corporation and Gartner are predicting, it becomes necessary that we drive investment where it matters.

Oracle recently came out with its fourth-quarter results. While other hyperscalers are growing slow, you have managed to see strong growth. What are some of the drivers?

The overall Indian public Cloud services market is expected to reach $13.5 billion by 2026, growing at a compound annual growth rate of 24 per cent. If I pick up the Gartner report, globally, SaaS makes up the largest share of the Cloud service market and more than 50 per cent of the overall software market.

The SaaS market is currently worth between $200 and $300 billion and is expected to double in size by 2025 and continue growing to $8 billion in revenue by the end of the decade.

Most of our customers have been using our licences for decades. We brought to the market the lift-and shift-services because customers start their Cloud journeys depending on their needs from different places.

Innovation in products, services, and consumption has been the big game changer for us.