American tech giant Oracle has said it is opening its first digital hub in Asia Pacific, which will be based in Bengaluru. The company, with an annual revenue of more than $37 billion, said the hub would provide cloud computing technology and resources to small and medium businesses to empower them in their digital transformation.
The Redwood Shores, California-based firm, which competes with Amazon, Microsoft and Google in the cloud computing services space, would be eyeing more than 51 million small and medium businesses in India.
It said many of them had either not worked with Oracle or used cloud (technologies) before. “There are [companies] like Amazon and Microsoft. But we have very big differentiation, we have a complete suite that is not provided by anybody else and that is the reason we are the fastest growing (cloud company) in the market,” said Shailender Kumar, regional MD, Oracle India.
Oracle reported that its total cloud revenues increased 58% year-over-year to $1.4 billion in the fiscal fourth quarter of 2017.
It provides cloud solutions such as software-as-a-service, platform-as-a-service and infrastructure-as-a-service.
Medical emergencies
The new facility, which is one of the five digital hubs set to open in Asia Pacific, will help small and medium businesses leverage Oracle cloud solutions to streamline operations, boost innovation and gain a platform for growth. One such client is Amego, a firm that provides logistical assistance for medical emergencies on the go.
The Bengaluru-based firm has also created a mobile app that enables people to call for help during medical emergencies anywhere and anytime across India with just a click of a button. Amego's managing director Yathindra Banappa said with Oracle mobile cloud service, his firm has enabled over 50,000 people to log medical emergency requests and get approvals on the go. “Customers can avail our services even from far-flung hospitals and pharmacies with no internet connectivity,” said Mr.Banappa who is now planning to use Oracle's intelligent chatbot for better customer experience.
Indian economy backbone
With nearly 40 percent contribution to India’s gross domestic product, the small and medium size business sector forms the backbone of the Indian economy according to Praveen Bhadada, partner and practice head – Digital, Zinnov Management Consulting Pvt. Ltd. He said that technology enablement of SMBs was expected to further add $1.1 trillion to the GDP and over $250 billion to exports from India.
