Oracle does rejig after Euro slump

Phil Crawford has been promoted to Oracle VP of financial services,EMEA

Poor financial results in Europe led Oracle to reorganise last week.

The changes in its European division were pre-empted by Ray Lane, Oracle president of worldwide operations, who fired the former head of Oracle EMEA, Loek van den Boeg, at the Oracle User Group in Amsterdam last spring. Oracle has hired an AT&T executive VP to replace van den Boog.

Pier Carlo Falotti, who will become senior VP of EMEA next month, will preside over the restructure. Oracle UK performed well over the past year, but Europe suffered, so the new head will concentrate on making the continent perform better, he said.

Philip Crawford, Oracle UK MD, has been promoted as a result, said a company representative. 'Falotti does not start until 1 September,' she said. 'Crawford has been promoted to VP of financial services for EMEA.

He will act as Oracle UK MD for the next six months.'

The reorganisation reflects the concern of Lane and Oracle CEO Larry Ellison that Europe is not performing as well as it should. In its latest announcements, Europe underperformed and sources said Falotti, with a clear track record at AT&T, is a Lane appointment.

The UK may well remain unchanged, but Falotti's job will be to convince country managers that they work for an integrated and global organisation.

Oracle Holland is likely to be the first to take cuts and Oracle Germany is not far behind.

Lane was promoted by Oracle CEO several weeks ago. Formerly with management consultancy Booz Hamilton, he is credited with increasing Oracle's profitability.