Speaking at the recent Movers and Shakers property breakfast club in London, Tim Caiger, Oracle's vice president of real estate, said the company was shedding 10 to 20 per cent of its space. 'We have dropped our Richmond and Bracknell buildings – this is happening to Oracle across Europe,' he added.
The reduction in the company's requirements for space follows significant staff cuts as a result of Oracle's use of the internet in key areas.
According to Caiger, up to 60 per cent of the company's software products will soon be sold on line. 'With e-commerce, more and more products are available through the internet. It has the impact of cutting overheads and the number of staff required.'
In the IT consulting sector, said Caiger, staff are increasingly being managed over the net. 'This gives us reduced space [requirements]. We also have a number of home-working contracts,' he added. Another factor behind the falling head count in technical support is that more and more customer difficulties are being resolved over the web.
Systems supporting finance and administration have also been rationalised. One single computer system now supports 34 countries, Caiger told delegates. 'We want to go from 4,000 servers to about 10. We are not there yet but we have got it down to 100,' he said.
Meanwhile, IT staff have been cut from 1,000 to 100, all based in one location. 'We have saved a huge amount in operating costs,' said Caiger.
Caiger said Oracle was turning to short-term leases in case its staff numbers dropped even further.
Despite the cuts, Oracle is in a strong growth period. 'We are growing faster than ever with less space and fewer people,' said Caiger. 'Our margins have gone up from 20 per cent to 40 and 60 per cent.' This year the company expects to achieve a growth rate of 110 per cent.
Source
The Facilities Business
