Embattled executive Charles Phillips has landed the top job at mid-size business applications developer Infor.
The board of directors of Infor, named Phillips its new CEO and a member of the board of directors.
Phillips was the president of Oracle along with Safra Katz, but he was no longer needed after Oracle hired Mark Hurd, who himself had troubles with HP leading to his departure in August of this year.
Phillips, who has more than 20 years of leadership experience in the software industry, was embroiled in controversy in January of this year when photos of him with YaVaughnie Wilkins, a women who was not his wife, appeared in billboards in New York, Atlanta and San Francisco along with an on-line campaign. This prompted Phillips to issue a statement saying that he had a relationship with Wilkins for more than eight years adn that he was in divorce proceedings. This news came as bad timing as Phillips was about to announce that Oracle received approval from European regulatory bodies to purchase Sun Microsystems.
While at Oracle, Phillips led the company’s field organization and oversaw revenue growth of nearly 300 per cent during his seven-year tenure at the firm. Besides Sun, Phillips played a key role in Oracle’s acquisitions of BEA Systems, Hyperion Solutions, and Siebel Systems.
Phillips said that Infor has quietly built the third largest enterprise applications company in the world, with 59 per cent compound annual revenue growth over the last seven years, higher margins than eight of the top 10 application companies, and a track record of leading innovation.
Phillips added that Infor is poised for growth as the next generation platform ships in January. The company’s laser focus on understanding and automating complex business processes, along with its commitment to constant innovation, has served customers well. “I am eager to lead this proven team of over 8,000 employees through its next phase of growth. In a consolidating industry, Infor has proven acquisition expertise, having successfully integrated over 70 companies.”
Jim Schaper, Infor’s current chairman and CEO, will remain chairman of the company, and continue to play a critical role in the company’s strategic development. Schaper also will serve as a senior operating partner at Golden Gate Capital, Infor’s primary shareholder.
Infor has more than 70,000 customers in 125 countries, including divisions of large corporations.
