Oracle leads MENA's Enterprise Applications Software (EAS) market

According to leading research firm IDC, Oracle was the number one EAS vendor in the MENA region owing to a strong performance in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Other Gulf Cooperation Council (OGCC) markets. These two territories together accounted for approximately 63 per cent of the vendor's EAS revenue in MENA in 2006.

According to the IDC's Arab Middle East and Egypt North Africa Software Solutions 2007-2011 forecast and 2006 vendor shares report, Oracle generated license and maintenance (L&M) revenue of US$92.88 million in 2006, to capture 32.4 percent share of the MENA EAS market. Year-on-year, Oracle's EAS revenue in the region was up 48.7 percent in 2006. The OGCC countries and the UAE are now the largest markets for Oracle in the region. Oasis Investment Company, Balubaid, The Central Bank of Egypt, and BMMI are a few of Oracle's key customer wins during 2006.

Oracle held 18.2 percent of Saudi Arabia's EAS market. In 2006, Oracle secured a number of projects with Saudi government bodies such as the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Saudi Post, and large retail giants like Abdul Latif Jameel.

In 2006, Oracle also maintained its leadership position on Egypt and held 46.9 percent of the country's EAS market share, while and 45.6 percent of the EAS market in Levant. Oracle came in third with EAS revenue of $3.13 million for 13.6 percent market share for the North African region. Oracle serves the Moroccan market with a direct office and covers Algeria directly from its MEA headquarters in Dubai.

Oracle also increased its CRM revenue by 92.9 percent year-on-year in 2006 to US$17.47 million and ranked first in this segment with 33.6 per cent. According to IDC, the CRM market is still considered to be in its early stages in the MENA region. Growth in 2006 was fueled by major investments by firms in the banking, government, and retail sectors across the region. Spending on CRM applications in the MENA region totaled US$52.01 million in 2006, an increase of 47.2 per cent over 2005.

"Oracle has always been leading the regions EAS space. During 2006, we focused mainly on addressing new customers in the region and pushing forward the Oracle E-Business Suite offerings," said Hussam Dajani, Senior Vice President, Oracle Middle East and Africa.

"While capitalizing on our large installed base of database software in the enterprise segments is key to our application business growth strategy, we are also continuing to release new versions of our existing ERP products. Oracle will continue to embed the best functionality from other Oracle brands. This long-term vision is our Oracle Fusion Applications strategy, and is what will be the single contributor to its success in the applications market."

"Moving forward, Oracle will continue to focus on applications sales to the region's midsize companies, and further penetrate our extensive installed base of database customers with business intelligence and applications," added Dajani.