Oracle is to re-align its Asian sales operations to provide more focused and specialised teams to replace the "generalized" sales force it has now, according to Derek Williams, executive vice president for Oracle Asia-Pacific.
Williams said that the new structure will reflect that being used by Oracle in the US, which had proved successful.
"In our US experience, once we turned on the focus, along came the revenue," said Williams in a conference call. "We will add specialist expertise to help the local geography."
The specialised teams will concentrate on three main areas: vertical industries such as finance, health, utilities and government; the Asia-wide core database technology market; and a business applications unit, particularly for Oracle's E-Business Suite 11i.10.
"It's not just about databases any more, but about integration," Williams said. "It's not about a segmented game."
The re-alignment will see Oracle increase its headcount in the region, Williams said.
The new structure reflects the growing importance of Asia to Oracle, according to Williams. Asia now accounts for 26% of Oracle's new worldwide licensing revenue and 16% of its total revenue, proportions which have grown over the past year.
In the first quarter of Oracle's 2005 fiscal year, which ended August 31, revenue in Asia was up 11% over the same quarter during the previous year.
Williams said Oracle's business in China "has never been better", dismissing remarks made by a rival software vendor this week that the PeopleSoft imbroglio had caused Oracle to drop off the competitive map in China.