Charles Phillips, Infor CEO
Charles ‘Chuck’ Phillips, CEO of Infor and formerly president of Oracle, told CBR that Steve Jobs’ influence will long be felt in an area that is perhaps less obvious than you would think: the enterprise applications market.
According to Phillips, Jobs’ approach is even affecting the way that companies design software for disciplines such as manufacturing and supply chain planning. "I believe there’s no overstating the impact that he’s had on how people consume technology," Phillips said in an interview with CBR this morning. "A lot of the [Infor] design goals I talked about earlier, for example a consumer-grade user interface – it’s certainly where a lot of that thinking came from. And a lot of the standards that we all have to achieve; the bar has been set pretty high."
Philips said that the trend which has been called the ‘consumerisation of IT’ is at least to some extent down to Steve Jobs and his particular focus on usability and he and Jonathan Ive’s trademark, somewhat minimalist designs.
"The expectations of how people interact with technology I think has made everyone much more productive and made it more enjoyable," Phillips said, "so I want to bring that to the enterprise. So [Steve Jobs] has certainly had an impact in areas that he probably didn’t anticipate and we’re definitely incorporating some of that into our applications."
Phillips said he is a fan not just of Apple but of other tech gadgets such as those based on Android. "I use both, I’m certainly a gadget guy," he said.
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