Five Ideas: Growth
Expert advice for expanding businesses
April 2009
During an economic downturn, midsize companies face pressures that can make them defensive and reactive. But, in fact, they possess a range of options for positive action to help them survive— and thrive—both now and when the economy rebounds. To succeed, midsize organizations need to be in a position to exploit every business opportunity and defend their established markets. And this means they need integrated information and flexible processes. Get expert advice on what you need to pay attention to most, including what investments could be critical to moving your business forward.
“If companies don’t see a solution like Oracle Accelerate as a competitive advantage then they’re not the fast-growing companies that are increasingly defining entrepreneurial success,"—Lee Kroon, senior industry analyst with Andrews Consulting Group in Cheshire, Connecticut
“Growing midsize companies have always been risk averse and always focused on only undertaking capital expenditures that will show rapid rewards to the bottom line. Oracle Accelerate implementations of our enterprise applications feature low cost software with short timelines. They’re delivered by partners who've done it many times before so that our midsize customers have confidence that the project will come in on time and on budget. Customers start realizing benefits within a very short time—usually within 3 to 6 months. Oracle Accelerate gives the midsize company enterprise class software, quickly and inexpensively, which allows them to compete better. When the 'economic dust' settles, Oracle Accelerate customers will be in a stronger position than before. " —Tony Kender, SVP for Oracle's Global Accelerate Program Office
“The transition to ERP for midsize companies is often the catalyst for faster growth and improved profits. The key to making this transition successful is careful evaluation of ERP options. There are hundreds of ERP systems available today, and midsize companies often have only one chance to make a good decision. The wrong decision can potentially sink a company."—Lenley Hensarling is Oracle group vice president and general manager of Oracle’s JD Edwards EnterpriseOne and JD Edwards World
“Often, when growing businesses fail, it’s because they don’t know what business to say 'no' to. That sounds antithetical to most business owners, who think, 'Any business is good business.' But it’s not good business if it distracts you from your core mission and purpose, and ties up resources that could be used more effectively elsewhere." —Andrew Keyt, Executive Director of the Loyola University Chicago Family Business Center
“Zebra [Technology] is a very good example of how you can take a phased approach to integrate existing assets into new Oracle applications and modernize the application portfolio. In today’s environment, how quickly you get up and running is incredibly important, as it determines how quickly you get to ROI, and Oracle Application Integration Architecture provides an accelerated way to get there"—Jose Lazares, vice president of application development at Oracle
