Oracle Corp, the US business application software company, said yesterday it was targeting Taiwan's small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) this year, in line with the strategies Hewlett-Packard Co and IBM Corp have already adopted.
"Small and medium-sized enterprises make up over 90 percent of the nation's businesses, and most of them have seldom sensed the need to exploit information technology to boost efficiency in the past," said Gary Wu (
"But as their businesses expand, more and more owners are aware of the necessity of such infrastructure and services, which can effectively manage information and enhance productivity," he added.
Small and medium-sized enterprises contributed less than 10 percent to Oracle Taiwan's revenue, and the company is hoping to lift the ratio after aggressive promotion this year, Wu said. He declined to reveal the value of the company's annual turnover.
Oracle Taiwan mainly targets companies which recruit 100 to 1,000 staff in a variety of industries. The market for its products was valued at an estimated NT$46.4 billion in 2001, according to the company.
However, according to a poll released by the Chinese-language TechVantage Magazine last November, nearly 70 percent of small and medium-sized companies said they spent less than NT$1 million on IT infrastructure and maintenance last year, while 65 percent of those polled said they will keep their spending below NT$1 million this year. The survey also found that most companies were reluctant to invest more in IT because of a shortage of resources and specialists.
"Not every SME is willing to spend huge amounts of money on establishing an information network," said Jennifer Kuo (
"In general, SMEs in manufacturing and retailing have higher needs and a greater inclination to adopt such technologies," Kuo said.
But there does exist great potential in this segment for information technology service providers, she said.
Hewlett-Packard, which launched its "Smart Office" initiative in Taiwan last December, is also ambitious about this market.
"There are up to 1.1 million small and medium-sized firms in Taiwan," said Steven Hu (
"Medium-sized firms would have higher capacity for the total solutions while the small ones would prefer outsourcing in view of cost saving," Hu said.
HP Taiwan now focuses on medium-sized firms in the IT or non-IT manufacturing, trade and logistics industries.
"Information technology providers wanting to enter the SME market have to identify sub-segmentation in this segment," Hu said. "Those who want to round up all industries would end up losing all."
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