LAPU-LAPU CITY, Cebu—Enterprise software provider and strategic technology partner Infor reported a “triple-digit” growth in terms of license sales for the third quarter of fiscal year 2016-2017 in the Philippines, and expected a modest, yet still improved, business results year-on-year.
“I’d love it to be [hitting a triple-digit again], but at least a double-digit growth is what we’re expecting,” Helen Masters, vice president and managing director for South Asia-ANZ and Asean at Infor, told the BusinessMirror at the sidelines of the company’s Asean and Pacific Partner Summit 2017 held here last week. The top executive attributed their triple-digit growth figure to “a lot of their channel [partners] in the region”.
He did not explain the factors that might slow down their future financial performance.
“But I’m still expecting a good substantial growth,” she said, while underscoring that the Philippines remains their consistent top-performing market in Southeast Asia, next to Singapore.
Masters lauded the government led by President Duterte for his initiative to push information- technology (IT) literacy to local talents.
“Every employee must have access to IT, must be trained and, especially with the growth of the millennials, it’s all about mobility software. We’re seeing some of that come true with customers and with prospects,” she said.
Seeing that digital transformation is now a reality here, Infor is projecting a pent-up demand for their offerings, particularly their new technology called the Ming.le software.
“It’s our social platform, which is really strong,” Masters said of this comprehensive channel for collaboration, business-process improvement and contextual analytics.
Infor has become a formidable organization since its entry into the country 19 years ago, with over 1,600 people employed at present.
“Our Research and Development Center [here] is one of our biggest support centers around the world physically,” Masters said.
This hub seated on the Net Park Building at The Fort, Bonifacio Global City in Taguig is now taking care of the development initiatives of their clients worldwide, including global logistics firm DB Schenker, clothing brand Guess and shoemaker Vans.
“A lot of their logistics development is done here and that’s great. Even their fashion and distribution products, it’s ran out of our Philippine office, as well, which is also great,” she said.
Infor is also strong in other verticals—retail, food and beverage, health care and business-process outsourcing.
While the company has already established itself in the domestic market, Masters assured a continuous investments on their part.
“You’ll see us taking more and more presence as we grow our footprint here. We’re starting to build more brand awareness. Over the past five years, we’ve been spending more of our investments in our products, making sure that the products are steady, great social funds are in, and the platform is in place,” she said.
“What we’re now going to do is to step back a little bit and take the products out to the market and ensure that we have a presence there. So you’ll see a lot more joint branding out in the marketplace. We partner with our customers as we share our success across the region,” she added.