Oracle Consulting Asia

Also Known As: Oracle, Oracle Consulting

Consulting - Information Technology

VAULT RANKINGS 2013

#23 Prestige

#4 Information Technology Consulting

GENERAL INFO

Headquarters: Redwood Shores, CA
offices
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THE BUZZ…

· "One of the strongest brands in IT"

· "Process & tech-oriented, no real HR methodology"

· "World leaders in database and related software"

· "Need new products to remain competitive"

NEWS AND UPDATES

Vault's Scoop

Uppers

"Opportunities for skills development"
"Flexible work times"
"Diversity of work"

Downers

"Low level of trust between supervisor and employee"
"Career growth is quite slow"
"Competitive internal environment"

ABOUT THIS COMPANY:

Ask the Oracle

Oracle is the world's No. 2 business software company, and a leading provider of databases and programs for web development, enterprise performance assessment, supply chain, customer relationship and HR management. While Oracle is still known for its database dominance, it also boasts industry-leading applications software and a services division, offering a range of tech consulting services in the areas of middleware (products that link applications), business intelligence, collaboration and, of course, databases.

The firm's business is split between software and services, with the former making up 80 percent of the firm's total revenue. Consulting makes up the bulk of services revenue (other services include on-demand and education), which in total brought in US$4.59 billion for the fiscal year ending May 2008.

In 2008, Oracle reported that it was experiencing record growth in the Asia Pacific region including Japan, bringing in around US$3.2 billion in overall group revenue during the fiscal year—up 26 percent from the previous year. Revenue in the Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) region also grew by 32 percent, reaching US$7.9 billion. The year 2008 also marked the first time employees in Asia Pacific outnumbered those in the Americas for Oracle—at the end of the fiscal year, the firm employed 34,515 people in Asia Pacific, compared with 32,608 in the Americas.

Doin' what comes naturally

Oracle’s services division came about as a natural outgrowth of its original software business. In 1992, former Booz Allen Hamilton consultant Raymond Lane was brought on to revamp the sales force, dividing 10,000 salespeople into two teams—one to sell database software and another to sell applications. Lane kept an eye on sales operations while now-CEO Larry Ellison ran the applications side of the business. By 1994, Oracle's consulting services were pulling in 20 percent of annual sales, and the company spearheaded a shift across the business world from the old model of storing corporate data on a mainframe to the new model of businesses contracting their data storage needs to a server company such as Oracle (the client/server model). The company also released its Oracle 7.1 database that year, which large corporations soon favored for their "data warehousing" needs.

By the late 1990s, revenue from applications began to slip during the tech industry slowdown. Revenue from the services side of the business, however, had tripled from 1996 to 2000, during Lane’s tenure as president and chief operating officer. In 2000, Lane resigned and the firm named Kenneth Block as executive VP of sales and consulting in North America. Block, also a former Booz Allen consultant, had been with Oracle since 1986.

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From the Community

REVIEWS

Inside opinions that matter, collected by Vault from employees at companies around the world.

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SALARIES

Oracle Consulting Asia salary & compensation reviews include all signing and year-end bonuses, vacation time and other perks and reimbursements that make up total compensation.

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SURVEY SAYS

Competitive environment

Insiders at Oracle have mixed reviews when it comes to describing the culture at their firm. Some describe it as a "pleasant office environment" that's "relatively open, flexible and non-hierarchical." Though the firm is "competitive and aggressive," it's described as "generally fair to its employees."

Overall, respondents in India give much more positive responses; however, in Australia, staffers are generally not as pleased with the culture. Consultants there say there is "no real defined culture," and the working environment is described by one as "competitive, disconnected and uncooperative among internal divisions." Yet another contact feels, "It's numbers driven... Staff are not rewarded according to their value." A colleague reinforces this view by saying that the firm is "generally centered around maximizing revenue, and less concerned about the morale and benefits of employees." However, another feels the environment is "competitive in a healthy way."

Good work/life balance

On a positive note, Oracle doesn’t appear to work its employees to the bone. Although respondents "usually work over eight hours on weekdays," they claim that it is "not necessary to work on weekends." In fact, the average working week lasts between 40 and 50 hours, and the consultancy also places a "strong emphasis on maintaining work/life balance."

Insiders agree that "options such as flexible working hours from time to time, and working from home, are positively considered by managers whenever feasible." "Working on a project at my home base allows me to maintain a good balance between professional and personal time," explains a source, while a colleague says, "I have been able to adjust my start time at work , allowing me to take my children to school a few days a week, while still working an eight-hour day."

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DISCUSSIONS

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Getting Hired

Tips from the inside

Slow but fair

The hiring process at Oracle is described as "fairly standard." Typical candidates send in their resume or CV, and from the pool, a selection will be made to come for an initial interview. According to a source, "Candidates may then progress through another one, or more interviews with various levels of management, depending on the job description and responsibility." Though the process "can be slow, due to final approvals and delays in sending out offer letters," a consultant stresses that it is also "reasonably robust with due diligence and multiple interviews." Yet another experienced consultant feels that the firm occasionally "loses the best candidates to other employers as a result of the cumbersome hiring process."

According to insiders, the major reason many of them accepted a position at Oracle was because of "the variety of work and customers" the firm could offer. One insider claims they chose the consultancy because of the "attraction of working in new and exciting projects across a broad spectrum of industry domains." Another pull was the fact that as well as being a consultancy, Oracle is also a product vendor, meaning staff can benefit from the "opportunity to hone technical in addition to consulting skills."

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Other Oracle Consulting Asia Profiles

Oracle Corporation-North America-Consulting - Information Technology, Oracle Consulting-North America-Consulting - Information Technology

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