Oracle eyes Korea for HR software growth

U.S. software giant Oracle on Thursday pinned high hopes on Korea for the growth of its human capital management software Oracle HCM, which is widely being adopted by global companies.

“Companies share similar human resources planning systems globally these days. But two countries -- Korea and Japan -- are still slow to adopt the standardized systems possibly due to their rigid corporate cultures,” said Pyun Chong-hwan, vice president of applications business at Oracle Korea during a media event held at the company’s Seoul office.

“Korean firms now run branches worldwide and hire people globally, increasing their demand to improve workforce management. That’s why Oracle, the No. 1 player in the field, is paying keen attention to the market’s growth potential.”

Oracle’s HCM is designed to help companies find and retain the best talent and increase global agility. More than 13,500 companies are using the software, with some 6,000 of them turning to the cloud-based service for better connectivity to mobile devices.

“The cloud service allows not just human resources officials but also managers at each business division to share the software through mobile devices for best practices. It also reduces operational and implementation cost of related solutions compared to companies developing their own systems,” Pyun said.

The HCM software market is currently dominated by three big players: Oracle, IBM and SAP. Buoyed by the soaring cloud service, the market is projected to grow from the current $10.96 billion to $17.49 billion by 2019, according to Markets and Markets, a global market research firm.

In Korea, a lack of awareness about the software has been a key restraint to growth. But the Oracle executive hinted at expanding its Korean clientele, predicting the software’s Korean adoptions to soar in the next two years together with the surging cloud market.

Oracle also offers localized services in 23 selected countries, including Korea, to help on different regulations such as taxation.

By Lee Ji-yoon (jylee@heraldcorp.com)