Charles Phillips: Affairs of excellence and innovation

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Standing at the helm of Infor Global Solutions is industry expert Charles Phillips, whose affairs and endeavors in the financial services and information technology arena has earned him a remarkable reputation in both industries.



Inspired by his father, who served in the United States Air Force for 20 years, Phillips completed his bachelor’s degree in Computer Science at the United States Air Force Academy. After completing his training, he served with the United States Marine Corps. He was later promoted to the position of Captain as an IT officer.

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After leaving the marines, he entered Wall Street and joined prestigious financial services firm Morgan Stanley. During his stint at Morgan Stanley, Phillips completed his JD degree at the New York Law School. Charles Phillips’ affairs and pursuit for excellence was not to be confined to his profession. To further his knowledge, he completed his Masters in Business Administration at the Hampton University.



Recognizing Phillips’ extensive experience in financial services and his proficiency in information technology, CEO Larry Ellison welcomed Phillips into Oracle Corporation’s executive bandwagon in 2003. Phillips, who was Oracle’s EVP for Strategy, Partnerships, and Business Development then, was immediately promoted as the company’s President the following year.

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Employing his expertise in innovating software solutions, Phillips now leads Infor, a purveyor of enterprise resource planning (ERP) services and solutions. Infor currently ranks as the third largest provider of enterprise solutions in the world.



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Charles Phillips underneath the Suit and Tie: The Business Man’s Military Upbringing

InformationWeek dubbed Charles Phillips as Oracle Corporation’s “secret weapon.” In 2003, then Oracle CEO Larry Ellison took Mr. Phillips off Wall Street and appointed him Oracle president. During his seven-year stint at the firm, Mr. Phillips has tripled Oracle’s revenue growth, and played a key role in the firm’s successful acquisition strategy including specific transactions such as BEA Systems, Hyperion Solutions, and Siebel Systems. Today, Mr. Phillips is the Chief Executive Officer and a Member of the Board of Directors at Infor Global Solutions, a leading provider of business software and services, with over 70,000 customers in 164 countries.

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Mr. Phillips’ drive for success stems from a military upbringing. Following in his father’s footsteps who served 20 years in the Air Force, Charles Phillips entered the United States Air Force Academy, one of the most selective colleges in the country. Candidates for admission are judged on their academic achievement, demonstrated leadership, athletics, and character. Mr. Phillips earned an undergraduate degree in computer science at the U.S. Air Force Academy and later on joined the United States Marine Corps. With determination, skills, and wits, he achieved the rank of Captain as an information technology officer.

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A military background proved to be a great advantage during Charles Phillips’ Oracle stint. In the first three years that Phillips served as president of the firm, he has emerged on top and constantly fulfilled the dual jobs of acquisition executor and customer advocate. Mr. Phillips’ performance has been spot on – and his discipline and principles as a man from the military is still one of his secret weapons in his current gig as CEO of Infor.

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Charles Phillips on Conquering China’s Economy: A Game Plan

The world has witnessed the further awakening of Asia’s Dragon Economy: China. But Infor CEO Charles Phillips, together with a motley crew of American business leaders, has looked more closely at the state’s economic systems and entrepreneurial methods. Together, they have pledged long-term commitment and accountability to the country, thereby allowing them to penetrate its markets.

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In flashback, this string of events caused the convergence of industry leaders in the China-US Business Leaders Forum last April 7, 2011. Business Technology maven Charles Phillips was present to pitch Infor’s game plan into the technology sector’s roundtable discussions.

For over a decade, the mid-market enterprise software vendor has been providing software solutions to over 2,000 enterprises in the region, many of whom have been Infor’s loyal customers. Charles Phillips and the China team have collaborated with the local IBM in launching bundled solution for Infor WMS, ERP for the Auto industry, and SunSystems within IBM x-series.

The firm has also forged a tight alliance with China’s Polytechnic University and Shangdong University Software College to render software solutions for pedagogic purposes.

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With the once-sleeping Dragon’s financial state coming to life, Infor Solutions has been wont to leverage its market trends and drivers, including the 12th Five-Year plan passed to the NPC in March 2011. This evolving roadmap has been revamped to focus on reducing greenhouse gas emissions and accelerating “advanced manufacturing” technology in the Mainland and all its territories.

CEO Phillips elaborated on these and other significant points—such as operations, customers, challenges, and keys to success—during his talk at the Forum.

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Stepping Stones? Charles Phillips and Oracle’s Major Acquisitions

When Oracle had gone on a stunning acquisition spree since 2003, the man who worked at the forefront, or sometimes behind the scenes, was Charles Phillips.

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Integrity, top line performance, and Wall Street acclaimed analytical skills construct the man whose name has become a brand in the software industry. Even at the outset of his professional career, the elusive stars were bequeathed unto Mr. Phillips.

Oracle confided to the world upon his arrival that its executives lured the top enterprise software analyst from Morgan Stanley, where his brilliant actions were already making the rounds. The soft-spoken Charles, as his fame already merits recognition by first name, spurred Oracle’s gainful strategy during his second week on the job. This occurred when the world’s leading software company launched a hostile bid for PeopleSoft. Moving forward, Charles Phillips propelled the organization to hit at least a major $BB purchase annually. All in all, Oracle, at the helm of Mr. Phillips being the executive vice president for strategy, partnerships, and business development recorded 60 deals in 7 years.

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When Charles stepped out to become the successor of Jim Schaper, CEO of enterprise software vendor Infor, he did not leave his initiative and innovation where he left off. The surprising achievements this fiscal year of the 8-year-old solutions provider are attributed to Mr. Phillips. Members of the industry are expecting that this is just the beginning for the company. The Oracle acquisitions extravaganza may just be stepping stones to Charles. The mid-market firm must expect greater things to come.

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Charles Phillips: Taking Infor Beyond

Freshly minted Infor CEO Charles Phillips is no newcomer to the software market. Before joining the Atlanta-based mid-market enterprise resource planning applications provider last December 2011, Phillips was Chief of Marketing for software giant Oracle from May 2003, and co-President and Director from January 2004 to 2010. His strong execution cemented Oracle’s position as industry leader – his well-planned acquisition spree fielded major buyouts such as Sun Microsystems in August 2009, BEA in January 2008, Hyperion in April 2007, Siebel in January 2006, and PeopleSoft in January 2005; his top line performance helped grow Oracle’s revenue from $9.4B in 2003 to $26.B in 2010. Prior to Oracle, he was Director at Morgan Stanley, and before launching a much-lauded Wall Street career, served as a captain in the United States Marine Corps.


"Charles Phillips is a proven executive who brings Infor the diverse skill set, direct industry experience, and track record of performance necessary to lead the Company to continued growth," says Jim Schaper, former CEO and current Chairman for Infor. "He is a true visionary in the technology industry and has a unique perspective drawn from his experience at one of our leading industry peers, in addition to his years on Wall Street."


Joining Infor at a key inflection point in the company’s trajectory, Phillips is likewise enthused. “The barriers to entry in this business are so incredibly high that I believe it usually takes 10 years to build a viable enterprise-applications company,” Phillips explains. “But in less than 10 years, Infor has achieved all that—they're there. And they got it done by doing things, not by talking about it.”


With Phillips taking his spot alongside fellow new appointees CMO Bruce Richardson and global R&D head Soma Somasundaram, Infor is more than ready to dominate.


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