Oracle launches ERP solution for small firms

Oracle has announced the availability of a hosted Enterprise Resource Planning solution for small and medium enterptises in India through its certified partner, Zensar.

"This is the first time the tech major's ERP solution would be offered in a prepackaged hosted model at a fixed cost in the country," said Ganesh Natarajan, deputy chairman and managing director, Zensar.

The Software as a Service business model was appropriate for SMEs looking at technology adoption said Krishnan Dhawan, managing director, Oracle India.

The SaaS model takes care of the delivery, maintenance, daily technical operation and support of an application for a subscription fee.

The service is already a huge success in the US and European markets with most large vendors adopting it. Last year, technology vendors like Symantec and Trend Micro had announced the adoption of SaaS to penetrate the Indian SME market.

"High costs of hiring and retaining quality IT personnel are deterrents for the adoption of IT in SMEs," said Dhawan. "SaaS overcomes these cost and staffing challenges by providing SMEs with a hosted solution at a predetermined price," he added.

Oracle aims to target the 300,000 SMEs situated in 390 SME clusters, across India.

The hosted solution is currently customised for the auto ancillary manufacturing units and will be available in Pune, initially. The price will vary from Rs 9,000 to Rs 20,000 per user per month depending on the requirements and complexity of the project.

Natarajan said the future plans of Zensar include, rolling out the solution nationally to SMEs and also developing customised out of the box solutions for the other 17 to 18 manufacturing segments.