Business in the cloud

With the increasing dynamism of business processes, interface with customers presupposes easy access. There’s no better venue to establish that quick relationship than over the Cloud.

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Infor, the third-largest enterprise software provider in the world servicing over 70,000 customers, has adjusted its platforms and suites for this development. The cloud is not as uniform or all-encompassing as layman’s terms imply. Embedded within it are specific infrastructure that may or may not permit the smooth rollout of software for business applications.

Infor Business Cloud applications, a set of products perfected for specific industries, take business applications to the Cloud with the goal of reducing complexities in customer engagement. They also target the reduction of IT costs for businesses while empowering them to generate changes along with the caprices of the market. As Infor’s CEO Charles Phillips would be apt to promote, Infor Business Cloud applications are all for flexibility, while retaining business focus on customer satisfaction.

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Infor’s Cloud-friendly services are especially tailored for backroom applications such as HR and talent management, financial management, and sales force automation. The range of applications is set to widen, especially given Infor’s headstart in Cloud-based enterprise software.

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The company is actually one of the pioneers of Cloud-based software, and at the moment boasts two million subscribers. The main asset of this feature --- Web availability of enterprise processes and solutions --- magnetizes customers most. Easy access means needing nothing more than a Web browser to conduct business.

Read more about enterprise software through this blog.

Charles Phillips: Optimizing IBM SmartCloud for the new Technorati

At the recent IBM InterConnect conference in Singapore, Charles Phillips’ Infor rolled out the expansion of IBM SmartCloud infrastructure with the inclusion of Infor Integrated Platform-as-a-Service (iPaaS) stack. The Private Beta availability of the iPaaS augments the pre-configured and menu-driven platform of the IBM SmartCloud with an option to allow IBM’s cloudmeisters to integrate, extend, and develop an array of applications and services within a local development structure that serves both Cloud and on-premise deployments. The refurbishment of the cloudware also allows users to upgrade their applications easily and experience Infor’s mobile and computing capabilities in the device spectrum.

Charles Phillips. Image credit: Ibm.com

IBM is set to obtain the best-of-breed for its cloud system with its partnership with Charles Phillips’ Infor. In addition to the iPaaS, the Infor SyteLine ERP included in the Private Beta is another fueling factor. Running on IBM SmartCloud, Syteline makes the cloudware’s menu-driven stack incremental and different from what IBM had offered before. Syteline brings a lot of opportunities to leverage a world-class ERP straight from IBM’s cost-effective and customizable cloud system.

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Infor SVP for Business Cloud Ali Shadman reveals that there’s more to iPaas than making any cloud system a hybrid entity. Some key benefits of the iPaaS are:

• Minimal coding requirement for business functionality;
• Protection for existing investments through the extension of ongoing business functionality; and
• Utilization of open and standards-based technology.

Charles Phillips. Image credit: Ibm.com

Apparently, the IBM SmartCloud for business includes five main areas of choice: IT platform, management support and deployment, performance and availability, security, and billing. The odds could be that the IBM-Infor collaboration will find faster adoption in both large and mid-range markets.

Charles Phillips’ Infor is a leading ERP solutions provider. For more information, visit www.infor.com.

Charles Phillips and facing the demand with Infor Hospitality

Technology advances out of a need to eliminate complexities, a rule that remains true in today’s business applications. Infor, led by Charles Phillips, creates ERP solutions tailored to the needs of various sectors, the hotel industry included. After all, running a hotel is not as easy as lounging in one.

Charles Phillips | Image Credit: Homivo.com

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Hotels seek to provide its customers with the feeling of being at home away from home, an end that starts at the reception area, and entails giving customers what they need when they need it. For a business that thrives on direct customer contact and quality interaction, nothing spells “success” more than a front office that can readily respond to any demand or concern.

Infor Hospitality is a set of applications that offers solutions for various aspects of hotel management. True to Charles Phillips’ word, the suite contains applications specially designed to ram up the quality of service that the front office provides. When integrated with a hotel’s front office and on-property technology, the suite facilitates better services by providing a centralized view of the guests and more opportunities to improve business operations and the delivery of services. Included in the suite are:

• Infor HMS – This combines the front office with sales, marketing, and central reservations, and provides a unified look at guests and the business’ performance.


• SoftBrands Epitome PMS – This creates a business system that manages property, converts information into knowledge, and potentially boosts profits by streamlining operations and increasing revenue and occupancy.


• Infor Starlight PMS – This creates a customizable, flexible, and central guest, company, and travel agent index that proprietors can readily access.


• SoftBrands Hotel FrontRes PMS – This helps manage reservations, sales, purchases, and services.


• SoftBrands Core CRS – This integrates and distributes data about guests, inventory, and rates across the company.

Charles Phillips | Image Credit: Synergy.net.pk

For more information about Charles Phillips, visit this Facebook page.

Charles Phillips: Even the God particle has to be managed

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 Charles Phillips and his company, Infor, could now tack management-down-to-the-particle as part of their creative portfolio. The discovery of the Higgs Boson particle, only the hugest idea in the world of physics since Einstein’s Theory of Relativity, could not have come without pooling a team of scientists all trundling out their own equipment, ideas, and personalized scientific methods. Achieving cohesion in quest of a slippery discovery like the Higgs Boson particle would have required a special degree of sophistication in databases of findings and inventories of equipment. A large Hadron Collider is no construction crane; it smashes protons into each other and performs feats of Particle Physics documented through formulae and geek jargon. Imagine creating a database for that.

Charles Phillips Image Credit: infor.co.uk

Charles Phillips and his team of software and application developers at Infor rolled out the Infor10 Enterprise Asset Management software, which was responsible for the inventory of at least a million pieces of equipment used for the longitudinal research on the Higgs Boson. Infor was tapped by the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) to systematize operations for the Large Hadron Collider in Geneva. The extensive use of Infor10 EAM was spun off by CERN into several other applications that took care of other maintenance processes apart from inventory. Security, road management, and other scientific activities were all outsourced for management into Infor10 EAM.

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Know more about Charles Phillips and Infor through this Twitter page.

Charles Phillips: Infor leads web-based support with Infor Xtreme

According to Charles Phillips, Infor’s culture of speed has several facets. Aside from helping customers run faster by providing software with sophisticated functionalities, the company also responds to its clients and works to solve their problems as fast as possible. With this aim at the core of its services, it is no wonder that Infor’s Xtreme Support program would be counted among the leaders of Web-based support today.

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Customer support plays a role so vital to both organizations and their customers that it can be a deciding factor in a company’s success. For customers, it can spell the difference between a maximized and a wasted investment in enterprise software. This contributes largely to customer satisfaction, which in the long run, may affect a manufacturer’s performance in the market.

Charles Phillips Image Credit: infor.com

Charles Phillips’ Infor is clearly pushing the envelope in terms of its customer support services, as seen by the recognitions it has garnered. Infor Xtreme Support was recently counted by the Association of Support Professionals (ASP) among the “ten best support sites.” This was in recognition of the support portal’s capability to assist Infor customers in resolving technical problems quickly and minimizing business process interruptions. The Xtreme Support program also won the 2012 MarketTools ACE Award for support in March this year.

Infor Xtreme Support is a user-friendly and customizable Web-based portal, a part of the company’s Xtreme Support program. It was redesigned and re-launched in January, and offers easy-to-access critical support resources including software patches, updates, knowledge base, online communities, and more. It also features a new user-grade interface that allows users to set their viewing preferences in order to facilitate faster and more effective access to information.

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For more information about Charles Phillips, Infor’s CEO, visit this Facebook page.

Charles Phillips: Infor addresses the needs of a city-sized customer

Charles Phillips’ Infor is known for its industry-specific ERP systems. It delivers sophisticated enterprise solutions that fit its customer’s needs and processes to a T, even if the client concerned is one of the fastest-growing cities in the country.

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Infor recently included San Antonio, the largest city in Bexar County, Texas, in its growing clientele. The company is more popularly known as a source of innovative software and tools used in private enterprises, but together with Lawson, it also offers solutions designed for the public sector. In this area, Infor focuses on industry expertise, and shares best practices among industries like healthcare, utilities, and transportation.

Part of Charles Phillips’ “New Infor” is the company’s emphasis on product development. This is in order to produce more innovative software for its diverse client base.

As the 19th largest city in the U.S. in terms of population, San Antonio demanded a powerful IT system in order to efficiently manage its complex infrastructure and business operations. It identified a total of 3,500 functional and technical requirements to automate and streamline its processes, covering data delivery and the creation of effective budget-related decisions.

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To address its numerous IT needs, Bexar County selected Infor's Lawson solutions: Lawson Financial Management, Lawson S3 Supply Chain Management, and Lawson Business Intelligence. These solutions allowed the county to make better budgetary decisions, and improved the management of the end-to-end procurement process, from sourcing vendors to managing ongoing contracts. The county was also able to realize savings with the streamlined process and accurate data, and is currently expecting additional savings in the future.

“We were confident the Lawson solution would be simpler, functionally richer, and more cost-effective," says Susan Yeatts, auditor of Bexar County.

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For more updates on Charles Phillips of Infor, visit this Twitter page.

Charles Phillips: Lending a hand to the posse

Charles Phillips is not a stranger to philanthropy. He established the Phillips Charitable Organizations in a bid to extend aid to America’s single parents and underprivileged students. Recently, he furthered his involvement in education-related humanitarianism as under his leadership, Infor became the first corporation to sponsor The Posse Foundation’s Veterans Posse program, an endeavor that aims to provide veterans with access to higher education.

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The Posse Foundation is built on the goal of helping disadvantaged but promising students complete their college education. The organization puts young people in groups of 10 composed of other students, in order to form a support group they can depend on as they study in university. The Veterans Posse program works the same way, but applies to army veterans.

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Considering Charles Phillips’ background, it is not surprising that he would be involved in such an affair. After acquiring his degree in Computer Science from the United States Air Force Academy, he became part of the U.S. Army. He left the force with the rank of Marine Captain. "The Posse program has a proven track record of sending teams of high school graduates to great universities and helping them succeed by forming reinforcing support groups. Extending this concept to veterans is a great idea," Phillips said. "In appreciation for their service, Infor is proud to be a founding sponsor of this new initiative to help veterans obtain college degrees."

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Infor has donated $100,000 to The Posse Foundation. Every year, the organization will recruit and train multicultural posses of 10 veterans and send them to institutions of higher education. Each of them will attend college free of charge, and will receive support until graduation. For more updates on Charles Phillips, visit this Facebook page.

Charles Phillips: Infor collaborates with Oak Barrell

Charles Phillips Photo credit: www.infor.com

Charles Phillips, Infor’s CEO, stated that one of his company’s goals is to create software that handles all of clients’ business processes. The release of Infor10 a few months ago proved this resolve, with the suite’s advanced applications covering a wide variety of platforms. Infor pushed the envelope with its announcement of its collaboration with Oak Barrel Software in improving Infor10 PLM Process (Optiva) to provide customers with better tools for product lifecycle management.

"Getting new products to market is a race that continues to grow more complex, and process manufacturers must be increasingly agile, responsive and focused on the rapidly changing demands of the market to outpace the competition," said Venkat Rajaji, Infor’s Global PLM Product Manager.

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According to Charles Phillips, Infor intends to create software designed for the particular processes of specific industries. Indeed, the Infor-Oak Barrel collaboration is focused on enhancing the manufacturing process to speed up time-to-market and give users better control over the critical aspects of the operation. Infor announced three enhanced modules:

Infor10 PLM Process Material SpecSafe
This helps manufacturers work closely with suppliers to better meet specifications and minimize recall and decreasing compliance issues.

Infor10 PLM Process Product SpecSafe
This allows manufacturers to communicate new product specifications across the entire supply chain, creating an efficient way of inputting new ideas for product development.

Infor10 PLM Process Recipe Builder
This helps companies in batch manufacturing industries produce recipes that are compliant to the S-88.

Charles Phillips Photo Credit: www.facebook.com

"The process manufacturing expertise of both Infor and Oak Barrel Software enables companies to speed product time-to-market and help ensure that products are accurately and efficiently guided through critical steps of development, a differentiating capability for our customers," said Rajaji.

More updates on Charles Phillips, Infor CEO, are available in this Facebook page.

Charles Phillips: Infor is first founding sponsor of Veterans Posse

Infor’s partnership with Habitat for Humanity is in the works, and the firm, with Charles Phillips at its helm, continues to uphold corporate social responsibility.

Charles Phillips. Photo credit: Habitat.mit.edu

The ERP software vendor sponsors the Posse Foundation as the latter launches the Veterans Program, which seeks countrywide increase of the rates of attending and graduating veterans in selected colleges and universities.

Mr. Phillips already expressed his appreciation of the service:

"The Posse program has a proven track record of sending teams of high school graduates to great universities and helping them succeed by forming reinforcing support groups. Extending this concept to veterans is a great idea."

Charles Phillips. Photo credit: Synergy.net.pk

To walk the walk, Infor has initially donated $100,000 to Posse, becoming the first founding sponsor of the initiative; Vassar College, on the other hand, is the first institution to open enrollment to the Veteran Posses.

Charles Phillips, the CEO of Infor, is the co-founder of the Phillips Charitable Organizations which also hosts programs to help single African American mothers, students with inclination towards engineering and the sciences, and veterans.

Selecting a Veterans Posse Scholar

The Posse Foundation has a signature selection process that will filter, gather, and train multicultural teams, or Posse, of 10 veterans and send them to selected four-year higher education institutions. All tuition and support will be provided by the Posse until the scholars graduate.

Posse President and Founder Deborah Bial thanks Infor for its “leadership in supporting this incredibly important investment in our nation's future leaders." Information about the foundation’s programs can be found here.

From Charles Phillips

Visit Twitter for more updates on Charles Phillips.

Shifting gears: Speeding up a Charles Phillips affair

Charles Phillips photo credit: synergy.net

The motto “Survival of the fastest” embodies the spirit of the enterprise software giant Infor. The company has begun shifting gears from within under the auspices of current CEO Charles Phillips. An affair like this is typical for Phillips, who has behind him a long career in enterprise applications. A former U.S. Marine, Charles Phillips has a management style that involves rapid deployment and aggressive expansion, evidenced in his days in Oracle up until 2010.

Speed is the byword that characterizes the Infor company strategy. Having made key changes to the company’s interior organization, Charles Phillips has been instrumental in the positive developments of the company in the past year. These changes reflect the attitude of continuous change and rapid development that is part of the corporate culture of Infor, later manifested in the improvements in product delivery, integration, and upgrades made in its flagship product Infor10.

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Rapid deployment and changes have been part of many of Charles Phillips’ affairs since his days as the co-president of Oracle. While it remains early to give a judgment on his performance, he appears to be on the right track as far as the current developments at Infor in the past year show. Time will tell if this affair would be a repeat of the growth generated by Charles Phillips at Oracle.

More information on Infor and many other Charles Phillips affairs can be accessed on Twitter.

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Charles Phillips, CEO: Accelerating Infor’s development

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The seeds sown by the Oracle Four at Infor have started bearing fruit. Formerly co-president of Oracle, Charles Phillips the CEO has been instrumental in the many leaps forward Infor has made in the past year alone. The company has had an annual organic license growth of 17 percent in 2011. The company has started making waves through new acquisitions, the most notable being that of Lawson Software.

The company’s growth can be attributed to the inward focus that Charles Phillips has made over the past year. Charles Phillips saw to it that the internal distribution of resources would be sent to research and development.

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And it shows. The company has recently released Infor10, a new program suite with a new user-friendly interface, and a middleware layer that makes quick work of upgrades. The attitude that Charles Phillips, CEO of Infor, holds is that of speed. Phillips stands by the company’s motto of survival of the fastest. Reflecting on this attitude, Infor has become an official sponsor to racing giant Scuderia Ferrari.

Charles Phillips Photo Credit: Justin Sullivan, Getty

Coming from a military background, Phillips has a characteristic management style that emphasized swiftness. This is reflected in his days as Oracle’s president, where he planned the major acquisitions that the company had made. While it is too early to tell if the successes that Charles Phillips had at Oracle would make a comeback, things are looking up for the CEO’s new affair.

More information on Charles Phillips, CEO of Infor, can be accessed on his Twitter.

Charles Phillips: Infor at full year of growth

After a full year under the strategies put in place by the new management under CEO Charles Phillips, Infor has grown considerably. The company reports a 17% annual organic license growth in the past year, with the most recent quarter receiving 16% organic license growth on November 2011. It also reports improved EBITDA margins at 27%, with new customer additions and support subscriptions acceleration.

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At the second fiscal quarter, Infor reports growth in its enterprise resource planning business—representing the core of the company’s services—by up to 25% compared with last year. This strong financial performance is the acme of the major internal transformation the company has undergone within the past year, driven as it was by major investments in industry-specific business applications. The company now has 2,500 new customers and expanded its relations with 12,000 of its current customers.

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These and other changes were spearheaded by Charles Phillips; Infor has, in the first few months of his management, been turned upside down with its resources shifted toward engineering, hiring 500 new engineers in the process. The company has also moved to New York City’s “Silicon Alley.” Other improvements include a new product line—Infor10—and a strategic partnership with Salesforce.com, a leader in enterprise cloud computing software.

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For Charles Phillips, Infor is up for an exciting new year as 2012 offers more opportunities for growth. More information can be accessed on Twitter.

Business as usual for Charles Phillips and Infor: The Lawson acquisition

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Acquisitions are an important aspect in the enterprise software industry. No one knows this better than Charles Phillips, Infor’s new CEO. Having been instrumental in the string of high-profile acquisitions that brought Oracle to the top, Phillips has changed his overall goals and kept out of the limelight, but his strategy remains the same.

While the acquisitions he has planned for Infor would focus mainly on compatibility, they are by no means small. His recent low-profile in the industry (a far cry from his days as Oracle president) is not without purpose or fruit: he and his team have been planning a new direction for the company, leaving the first indelible mark through the acquisition of Lawson Software in 2011.

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Costing over 2 billion, the Lawson acquisition cemented Infor as the third largest ERP company in the industry, next to Oracle and SAP. A large achievement for Charles Phillips and Infor, the acquisition of the company, which focuses on software applications for healthcare, came uncontested from the bigger players.

The company was chosen because its products are complementary with those of Infor and would be easily integrated to the company’s new middleware layer, which reflects one of Charles Phillips’ many aims for the company in the future. Many of Infor’s future acquisitions are planned with this in mind.

More information on Charles Phillips and Infor can be accessed via Twitter.

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Charles Phillips: Manifesting Marine values in business

Charles Phillips Photo Credit: passionateflame_1

The U.S. Marine Corps is a proud organization built upon many values. A former Marine Captain, Charles Phillips retained some of these values, and has applied these into his business strategies. Phillips’ corporate affairs have shown what he has said: that his management style was heavily influenced by his military upbringing.


The Marines are among the icons of the U.S. Military, having engaged in many of the nation’s finest moments. A member of the U.S. Marines is expected to uphold a set of values that encourages them to become better citizens—among them are integrity, tact, and decisiveness. A former Marine himself, Phillips has carried these values over to his new career in the world of enterprise software.

Charles Phillips Photo Credit: orvalrochefort

The Charles Phillips business strategy can be described in three words: quick, aggressive, and strategic. This was first implemented during his time as the president of the enterprise software giant Oracle and manifested many of the aforementioned values, primarily decisiveness and tact. The acquisitions made by Oracle were not only fast but well-thought-of; Phillips had focused on acquiring a lot of big-name companies into Oracle’s wing, propelling the firm towards further growth and prosperity.


This strategy eventually proved successful—today, Oracle now sits at the top of the enterprise software industry alongside SAP. Now the CEO of Infor, Phillips continues to apply the strategies, which owe their existence in part to his Marine upbringing.

Charles Phillips Photo Credit: Getty Images

More information on Charles Phillips and his background is available at his Twitter.