Oracle Plans Special Edition Of Enterprise Apps For Smaller BusinessesOracle Plans Special Edition Of Enterprise Apps For Smaller Businesses

Industry experts estimate the small and midsize market for IT is worth more than $300 billion, and Oracle wants a much bigger chunk of that than it has.

So it's prepping new software suites for small and midsize businesses that include portions of its E-business Suite. "We're packaging this so that it performs most of the operations that a midmarket company requires, and we're pricing it as such," says Frank Prestipino, VP of midmarket and applications architecture marketing. "Instead of 29 options, we'll give them four."

The preconfigured software, called E-business Suite Special Edition, is designed to go live in as little as 30 days. First out of the gate is a suite for financials; later Oracle will add manufacturing, service and sales, and human-resources packages.

Nearly 40% of Oracle's customer base could be classified in the midmarket sector, and Prestipino says the midmarket software announcement is a reaction to increased demand. "The midmarket represents a growth market for us," he says.

E-business Suite Special Edition is already available in Europe, and Prestipino says U.S. availability is imminent: "Absolutely this year."